%0 Journal Article
%A Oliver, Laura
%A Dietrich, Thomas
%A Marañón, Izaskun
%A Villarán, Maria Carmen
%A Barrio, Ramón J.
%T Producing Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: A Review of Sustainable Sources and Future Trends for the EPA and DHA Market
%D 2020
%U http://hdl.handle.net/11556/1066
%X Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (Omega-3 PUFA) are recognized as being essentialcompounds for human nutrition and health. The human body generates only low levels of Omega-3PUFA. Conventional sources of Omega-3 PUFA are from marine origin. However, the global growthof population combined with a better consumer understanding about healthy nutrition leads tothe fact that traditional sources are exhausted and therefore not enough to satisfy the demand ofOmega-3 PUFA for human diet as well as aquaculture. Microalgae cultivated under heterotrophicconditions is increasingly recognized as a suitable technology for the production of the Omega-3PUFA. The high cost of using glucose as main carbon source for cultivation is the main challenge toestablish economical feasible production processes. The latest relevant studies provide alternativepathways for Omega-3 PUFA production. As preliminary results show, volatile fatty acids (VFA)recovered from waste stream could be a good alternative to the use of glucose as carbon source inmicroalgae cultivation. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the actual situation of Omega-3PUFA production, sources and market request to provide a summary on sustainable sources that arebeing investigated as well as present and future market trends in Omega-3 market.
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