微藻生產葉黃素之可行性評估

葉黃素是存在於高等植物及其他光自營生物中的一種黃色素，它被廣泛應用在飼料與食品添加劑中。葉黃素有助於改善心血管疾病、預防老年黃斑部病變及抗癌等功效，維持人體健康。其市場價值在2018年上看30億美元。葉黃素在結構上具有順反式異構物與酯化型和游離型的差異。商業化產品主要以全反式為主，並可分為兩大類─游離型(Kemin)與酯化型(Cognis)。游離型葉黃素因其小分子結構有利於人體吸收；酯化型葉黃素則對於光、熱、酸等環境因子具有較高的忍受度，除了方便生產過程的操作外，一般認為酯化型葉黃素能順利通過胃酸抵達小腸而被吸收利用。二者皆有益於人體健康，但仍無足夠的證據可區分游離型與酯化型葉黃素何者功效較佳。微藻具有較高的游離型葉黃素含量，萬壽菊花瓣則以葉黃素酯為主要色素，經鹼處理後，萬壽菊中游離型葉黃素含量(20克/公斤)是微藻中的2-4倍。以一畝地(104平方公尺)的進行葉黃素生產估算，利用微藻生產葉黃素的年產量(350-750公斤)是利用萬壽菊的3-6倍高，但因微藻中相對較低的葉黃素含量，比起萬壽菊而言，需消耗更多的資源與原料來生產相同單位高純度的葉黃素，因此若要以微藻開發葉黃素產業與製程，更高含量的品種是必須的，此外，在微藻破壁方面，可考慮使用化學法與生物法取代機械力破壞，以提高能源效率與減少相差5個級數的能源消耗，最後須發展更合適的萃取程序，改善使用大量萃取劑與能耗的缺點。

關鍵字

葉黃素；葉黃素酯；微藻；萬壽菊

並列摘要

Lutein is a yellow xanthophyll existing in higher plants and other photoautotrophic organisms. It is widely used as a feed and food additive. Lutein benefits human health such as the amelioration of cardiovascular diseases, cancers and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The lutein marketing size is expected to achieve $308 million USD by 2018. There have different types (trans/cis) and forms (free/ester) of lutein with commercial lutein being the all-trans structure. Lutein products have different forms: free lutein (Kemin) and lutein esters (Cognis). Lutein can be easily absorbed due to its relatively small size when compared with lutein esters though the latter have high tolerance to heat and light. Both benefit human health, but there are not enough evidences to distinguish which is better. The lutein content in microalgae is higher than that of the marigold flower because lutein esters are major form that exists in the marigold petals. After alkali treatment, free lutein content of marigold flower (20 g/kg) is 2-4 times higher than microalgae (5-10 g/kg). The simulation of lutein production is based on 1 ha land (104 m2). The annual lutein production of microalgae (350-750 kg/ha) is 3-6 times higher than marigold flower (120 kg/ha). However, because of the relatively low lutein content in microalgae, it required more resources during whole production of lutein to produce 1 kg. In order to commercialize, new strains are required. Furthermore, the mechanical disruption methods should be replaced by chemical or biological methods due to the energy consumption difference in the order of 5. A suitable extraction method that minimizes the use of large quantities of extractants and energy is required.

並列關鍵字

Lutein ； lutein esters ； microalgae ； marigold flower

參考文獻

Fernandez, F. G. A., Fernandez-Sevilla, J. M. and Grima, E. M. (2013). "Photobioreactors for the production of microalgae." Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio-Technology 12(2): 131-151.

Acien, F. G., Fernandez-Sevilla, J. M., Magan, J. J. and Molina, E. (2012). "Production cost of a real microalgae production plant and strategies to reduce it." Biotechnology Advances 30(6): 1344-1353.

Alam, A. U., Couch, J. R. and Creger, C. R. (1968). "The carotenoids of the marigold, Tagetes erecta." Canadian Journal of Botany 46(12): 1539-1541.

Astorg, P. (1997). "Food carotenoids and cancer prevention: An overview of current research." Trends in Food Science & Technology 8(12): 406-413.

Barbara, D. A. and William, W. A. (2002). "Antioxidants in photosynthesis and human nutrition." Science 298(5601): 2149-2153.

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微藻生產葉黃素之可行性評估

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