SBIR Phase I: Innovative Recovery of Natural Beta-Carotene from the Marine Alga Dunaliella Salina

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目是为了研究从海洋藻类杜氏盐藻中收获天然类胡萝卜素的技术可行性。由于与现有技术相关的高资本和运营成本，目前天然β-胡萝卜素的价格大约是合成品种的两倍。通过使天然β-胡萝卜素的商业生产成本接近于合成产品的成本，这项研究有望导致“天然β-胡萝卜素”市场的显著增长。第一阶段研究的具体目标是确定一种低成本方法从生长介质中收获上述海藻并从该藻类中提取β-胡萝卜素的可行性。该项目开发的技术还可以用于从藻类中收获和提纯其他类胡萝卜素。该项目的商业应用将在β-胡萝卜素市场上进行。β-胡萝卜素目前被广泛应用：作为营养补充剂、作为食品增强剂、作为动物饲料和作为食品着色剂。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 Project is to investigate the technical feasibility for harvesting natural carotenoids from the marine algae, "Dunaliella salina". Due to the high capital and operating costs associated with existing technologies, the current price of natural beta-carotene is about twice that of the synthetic variety. By enabling the commercial production of natural beta-carotene at a costcloser to that of the synthetic product, this research is expected to lead to a significant growth of the "natural beta-carotene" market. The specific objective of the Phase I research is to determine the feasibility of a low-cost method to harvest the above mentioned marine algae from the growth medium and to extract the beta-carotene from this algae. The technology to be developed in this project could also be used to harvest and to purify other carotenoids from the algae. The commercial application of this project will be in the beta-carotene market. Beta-carotene is currently used for a wide range of applications : as a nutritional supplement, as an agent for food fortification, as an animal feed, and as a food colorant.