Biotechnological exploitation of cyanobacteria and microalgae for bioactive compounds

Abstract As major part of the phytoplankton, microalgae and cyanobacteria are pivotal for the global food chain and indispensable significance to sustain earth's ecosystems. Due to their adaptation capability in a variety of cell culture conditions, algae are enormous versatile, and the consequently produce diverse valuable bioactive compounds. In the last decades, an increasing attention has been directed toward the possibilities of growing algae, commercially. Algal bioactive compounds include antioxidants (polyphenols, tocopherols, vitamin C, mycosporine-like amino acids), peptides (cyclic and acyclic) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (e.g. docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)) and polysaccharides (e.g. β-glucan), and pigments, such as carotenoids (carotene xanthophyll), chlorophylls, and phycobilins (phycocyanin, phycoerythrin) etc., exhibited antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor properties. Novel cultivation and extraction techniques are efficient to grow algal biomass and convert them into extracts of biologically active compounds without degradation. This chapter provide an overview of the biologically active compounds, extracted from the biomass of algae and their potential role for the human welfare, in a structured way.