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Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

, Volume 74, Issue 3, pp 517–523 | Cite as

Exploitation of Dunaliella for β-carotene production

  • R. Raja
  • S. Hemaiswarya
  • R. Rengasamy
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Abstract

Halotolerant microalga Dunaliella, which is exploited for the production of dried biomass or cell extract, is used as a medicinal food. With the advancement in this field in recent years, the production of bio-organic compounds such as β-carotene is established in many countries. Large-scale production of β-carotene is controlled by numerous stress factors like high light intensity, high salinity, temperature and availability of nutrients. The state-of-the-art strategies in industries in closed systems under new set of inductive factors will additionally promote the ease of commercial production of β-carotene. This review mainly focuses on the different methodologies employed recently for the optimum production of β-carotene from Dunaliella species.

Keywords

Dunaliella 4-carotene glycerol Salinity Microalga Carotenogenesis 
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Notes

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Prof. N. Anand, Director, Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras. Also, they extend their thanks to Dr. Velu Subramani, Senior Scientist, Research Triangle Institute, USA and Prof. R. Manivasakan, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai for their critical review of the manuscript.

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© Springer-Verlag 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Centre for Advanced Studies in BotanyUniversity of MadrasChennaiIndia
  2. 2.Department of BiotechnologyIndian Institute of TechnologyChennaiIndia
  3. 3.Department of Food science and NutritionHallym UniversityChuncheonSouth Korea

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