Sustainable, Microalgae-derived Fucoxanthin-rich Product for Cosmetics and Supplements

Most fucoxanthin is produced from brown seaweed but current process is inefficient with low yields and expensive. Furthermore, seaweed may contain toxic contaminants such as heavy metals and radioactive waste and the supply is limited to harvest season.

An Israeli startup has developed a fast and cost-competitive platform to produce year-round supply of high purity, fucoxanthin-rich product from its proprietary strains of microalgae in an environmentally-friendly facility.  The microalgae is a safe and sustainable source of fucoxanthin.

Various extraction processes yield different forms of fucoxanthin that can be used in cosmetics, dietary supplements, foods, and pharmaceuticals.

Startup is seeking co-development partners from the cosmetics and dietary supplement industries.

The three main components in the fucoxanthin production platform contributing to its efficiency are: 

• Strain development and optimization using biotechnology; 
• Patented agro-physiological manipulations to accelerate microalgae growth and enhance fucoxanthin and polysaccharides production. 
• AI-based environment control to optimize yields. 

Since the startup uses its specially cultivated microalgae instead of seaweed, it is not limited by the amount of starting material and the fucoxanthin produced is free from heavy metals and contaminants from sea or ocean pollution. This fucoxanthin also contains a relatively higher amount of nutrients such as DHA compared to the fucoxanthin from seaweed. 
In addition to fucoxanthin, the platform could yield novel polysaccharides unique to this strain of microalgae, and other ingredients. The novel polysaccharides have anti-viral properties and skin repair and renewal properties can be incorporated into skin care products. 

Research has shown that Fucoxanthin, a carotenoid, has various health and cosmetic benefits and helps in preventing obesity and diabetes, and anti-aging. Hence, it is widely used in

• Cosmetics 
• Dietary supplements (i.e., to prevent obesity)
• Foods
• Pharmaceuticals

The technology presents the key benefit of a year-round sustainable supply of high purity fucoxanthin from a relatively cost-effective production process.