Microalgae produces alternative to palm oil

As the oils produced from the microalgae are edible and have reportedly superior properties to those found in palm oil, the newly discovered method led by scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) would serve as a healthier and greener alternative to palm oil.

Compared to palm oil, the oil derived from the microalgae contains more polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can help lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. The microalgae produced oil developed in collaboration with scientists from the University of Malaya, Malaysia, also contains fewer saturated fatty acids, which have been linked to stroke and related conditions.

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Palm oil is the world’s most utilised vegetable oil. It features in around half of all consumer products and plays a central role in a large range of industrial applications. Farmers produced 77 million tonnes of palm oil for the global market in 2018, and that is expected to grow to 107.6 million tonnes by 2024. However, the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations is blamed for massive deforestation in several countries, destroying habitats and endangering native wildlife.

To produce the oils, pyruvic acid - an organic acid that occurs in all living cells - is added to a solution with the algae Chromochloris zofingiensis and exposed to ultraviolet light to stimulate photosynthesis.

After 14 days, the microalgae is washed, dried, and treated with methanol to break the bonds between the oils and the algae protein so that the oils can be extracted. The team said it has also developed ‘green’ processing technology to efficiently extract microalgae derived plant oils. The results of the study have been published in Journal of Applied Phycology. 

In a statement, project leader Professor William Chen, director of NTU’s Food Science and Technology (FST) Programme, said: “Developing these plant based oils from algae is yet another triumph for NTU Singapore, as we look to find successful ways to tackle problems in the agrifoodtech chain, especially those that have an adverse impact on the environment. Uncovering this as a potential human food source is an opportunity to lessen the impact the food supply chain has on our planet.”

The scientists said that when scaled up, the production of the plant based oils with natural sunlight instead of using ultraviolet lights would help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by converting it to biomass and oxygen via photosynthesis. As the microalgae grows, it converts carbon dioxide to biomass at relatively fast rates, the team said.

In a separate study, the scientists at NTU’s Food Science and Technology programme have also developed a process to produce pyruvic acid, the key reaction ingredient needed to cultivate the microalgae oil. This is done by fermenting organic waste products, such as soybean residues and fruit peels, which would not only reduce production costs, but help cut down on food waste.

Prof Chen said: “Our solution is a three pronged approach to solving three pressing issues. We are capitalising on the concept of establishing a circular economy, finding uses for would be waste products and re injecting them into the food chain. In this case, we rely on one of nature’s key processes, fermentation, to convert that organic matter into nutrient rich solutions, which could be used to cultivate algae, which not only reduces our reliance on palm oil, but keeps carbon out of the atmosphere.”

The scientists will now work on optimising their extraction methods to improve yield and quality. The research team added that it has received interest from food and beverage partners and could explore scaling up their operations within two years.

Due to the oils’ properties, the NTU team will be exploring adding them to plant based meats to improve their texture and nutritional properties. They also hope to explore pharmaceutical and cosmetic uses.