Biotechnological valorization of algal biomass: an overview

Algal biomass has significant advantages over terrestrial plants in terms of CO₂ sequestration, biomass productivity, wastewater treatment along with multiple biobased products synthesis. Metabolic versatility and high carbohydrate content of microalgal biomass act as a potential alternative feedstock to fossil resources and contribute towards the biobased economy growth. Effective biomass utilization would play a key role to establish sustainable bioprocess development and technology translation to the industrial community. In this framework, the present review discusses the renewable resource potential of algal biomass and its complete utilization for multiple biobased products synthesis in a closed-loop biorefinery approach. Various methods are discussed to obtain high biomass growth and pretreatments to obtain the maximum sugars solubilization. Further, combined bioprocesses were discussed for the production of biohydrogen, biomethane, bioethanol, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), and biopolymers in a closed-loop approach.