algal farming systems: from production to application for a sustainable future

The farming and cultivation of algae can provide sustainable solutions for issues like food security-related problems, costly health-related products, sustainable fuels, and more. However, the use of algae is currently restricted to high-value, low-volume markets, mainly due to the high investment and production costs involved. In recent years, algaculture for food and fuel purposes has begun a transition from R&D and pilot-scale operations to commercial-scale systems. This new book presents the latest technological innovations in algae production, market status, and prospects for algal applications.

The book provides an informative overview of different perspectives on the commercial production of algae-based food, health, and high-value cosmeceutical products, providing an institutional framework to support and promote the development and commercialization of algal farming. The book discusses phycotechnology and highlights the current trends and future scope of algal technology. It also presents new information on algal culture conditions and cultivation strategies, including a look at geographic position and local climate as key factors in the implementation of microalgae-based processes. Algal production, marketing strategies, and their commercialization are discussed, as are the industrial applications of algae, focusing mainly on nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical applications of microalgae and macroalgae.

Jeyabalan Sangeetha, PhD, is Assistant Professor at Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, South India. She has edited/coedited several books in her research areas, which include environmental toxicology, environmental microbiology, environmental biotechnology, and environmental nanotechnology. She is the recipient of a Tamil Nadu Government Scholarship and a Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship of the University Grants Commission, Government of India, for her doctoral studies. She served as Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellow and UGC Postdoctoral Fellow at Karnatak University, Dharwad, South India, during 2012-2016, with funding from the University Grants Commission, Government of India, New Delhi. She earned her BSc in Microbiology and PhD in Environmental Science from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. She holds an MSc in Environmental Science from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Devarajan Thangadurai, PhD, is Professor at Karnatak University in South India. He has authored/edited over 30 books with national and international publishers and has visited 24 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for academic visits, scientific meetings, and international collaborations. He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Madeira, Portugal; University of Delhi, India; and ICAR National Research Centre for Banana, India. He is the recipient of a Best Young Scientist Award with a Gold Medal from Acharya Nagarjuna University, India, and the VGST-SMYSR Young Scientist Award of the Government of Karnataka, India. He received his PhD in Botany from Sri Krishnadevaraya University in South India as a CSIR Senior Research Fellow with funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.