Astaxanthin is a natural carotenoid present in a wide range of marine and freshwater organisms, such as microalgae, salmon, trout, krill and crustaceans, being responsible of their pink/orange pigmentation. It is considered one of the most powerful antioxidants in nature and its high anti-oxidant activity makes Astaxanthin being used as a food/feed supplements (especially in the aquaculture sector, where it is used to add the characteristic orange pigmentation to farmed salmons), in cosmetics, and in nutraceutics as a “superfood” for human consumption. Indeed several studies demonstrated that Astaxanthin plays an active role in the protection against free radicals, that are responsible of ageing and are related to a wide number of diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes and senile dementia. A daily consumption of 6-12 mg of astaxanthin is recommended with an accepted daily intake (ADI) of 0.2 mg astaxanthin/kg of weight approved by EFSA. Although the benefits of natural astaxanthin are well known, its widespread deployment among consumers is nowadays hindered by the very high production costs, which reflect in an extremely high selling price. Although Astaxanthin can be extracted from different sources, such as fermented Phaffia yeast, it is mainly obtained in its natural form by cultivation of the green alga Haematococcus pluvialis (called also Haematococcus lacustris) in a complex two phase cultivation process, followed by costly procedures for astaxanthin extraction. The production of synthetic astaxanthin is much more cost effective than natural one but due to the presence of different isomers in the final product upon chemical synthesis, its antioxidant power is reduced compared to the natural one. For this reason and because the synthetic astaxanthin is essentially derived from fossil oil residues, its use for human consumption or as an ingredient for cosmetic products is not recommended.
In the ERC-StG-SOLENALGAE project the investigation of the role of carotenoids in photoprotection in microalgae led to the development of an innovative platform for natural Astaxanthin production. Strains with high Astaxanthin accumulation (bkt strains) were indeed obtained by metabolic engineering in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (usually not accumulating Astaxanthin). The production of this high value molecule in C. reinhardtii was characterized by several advantages as the possibility to produce Astaxanthin in continuous cultivation mode; high bio-accessibility for animal or human assimilation; easier extraction of astaxanthin even without costly cell pre-treatments; lower extraction costs and no contamination from oxidant molecules as chlorophylls during extraction process. These advantages lead to a potential increase in pure Astaxanthin productivity up to 16-fold higher than the current methods.
This ASTEASY PoC was focused to optimize the production and extraction processes of astaxanthin from BKT strains and to define the IPR and exploitation plan of this new technology. The results obtained demonstrate the possibility to produce efficiently astaxanthin by cultivation of BKT strains in closed photobioreactors of different size, from lab scale to industrial scale (300L) with a maximum yield of 14 mg/L/day of natural astaxanthin easily extractible in a wide range of solvents or even in mineral or soybean oil.
According the results obtained the IPR strategy was defined and a patent application was prepared and sent to a patet office for the submission at national level, to be extended at international level in the following steps. We then deeply investigate the market by dedicated interviews with stakeholder in different industrial sector, which helped us to further tune the technological development of the new system and define the possible business model considering as possible scenarios Astaxanthin production through a dedicated spin-off vs licensing to Astaxanthin producers. According to a Cost Benefit Analysis the latter business case was considered the best option for the commercial exploitation of the proposed innovation. Preliminary 5-years eco-fin projections were made, highlighting economic performances that are in line with the industry. The market entry is expected in 2023, while we expect to reach the break-even point in 2024. Therefore, the proposed innovation is expected to boost the natural astaxanthin market, which is currently hindered by the extremely high production costs, providing high quality natural astaxanthin at a similar price point of low-quality synthetic products.
