Optimising yield of antioxidants and sunscreens in microalgae for sustainable biosythesis of ingredients for health and beauty products

微藻，一种在世界海洋中无处不在的微型植物，是大自然自己的能量电池，将来自太阳的光能转化为化合物。微藻的高度生物多样性及其对广泛变化的环境的适应性导致它们含有独特的化合物组合。某些化合物组合在保护细胞免受例如太阳有害射线的伤害方面起着关键作用。这些相同的化合物具有保护人类的潜力，可用于一系列保健消费产品。目前，微藻是一种相对未开发的天然产物。医疗保健行业正在寻求在其一系列个人护理产品中寻找可持续的替代品，微藻具有许多特性，使它们特别有吸引力。普利茅斯海洋实验室与Boots公司合作的研究表明，某些种类的微藻含有宝贵的生物活性，包括防晒和抗氧化活性。该项目将侧重于优化这些生物活性物质的产量，并了解生物合成途径和相互转化。实验研究的结果将与数学模型的结果进行比较，并将用于优化使用光生物反应器（PBR）技术生长的微藻的生物活性产量，这是商业规模生产微藻所必需的。我们还将研究利用废弃的二氧化碳和氮氧化物排放来促进微藻生长的潜力，并评估这对生物活性水平的影响。此外，在提取目标生物活性后剩余的副产品材料将作为养殖鱼类的潜在可持续营养来源进行研究。

Microalgae, microscopic plants ubiqitous in the world's oceans, are nature's very own power cells converting light energy from the sun into chemical compounds. The high biodiversity of microalgae and their adaptation to a wide range of changing environments has resulted in them containing unique suites of compounds. Certain suites of compounds play a key role in protecting the cell against for example the sun's damaging rays. These same compounds have potential to protect humans and could be used in a range of healthcare consumer products. Currently, microalgae are a relatively untapped source of natural products. The heathcare industry are are looking to nature for sustainable alternatives in a range of their personal care products and microalgae have many attributes that make them particularly attractive. Research at Plymouth Marine Laboratory in collaboration with the Boots Company has revealed that certain species of microalgae contain valuable bioactivity including sunscreen protection and antioxidant activity. This project will focus on optimising the yield of these bioactives and on understanding biosynthetic pathways and interconversions. Results from experimental studies will be compared to those derived from mathematical models and will be used to optimise the yield of bioactives in microalgae grown using photobioreactor (PBR) technology, required for commercial scale production of microlagae. We will also investigate the potential of using waste CO2 and NOx emissions to enhance the growth of the microalgae and assess the impact this has on levels of bioactives. Additionally co-product material, remaining after extraction of targeted bioactives, will be investigated as a potential sustainable source of nutrition for farmed fish.