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HERO ID
8776804
Reference Type
Journal Article
Subtype
Review
Title
Microbial production of omega-3 fatty acids: an overview
Author(s)
Kannan, N; Rao, AS; Nair, A
Year
2021
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Journal of Applied Microbiology
ISSN:
1364-5072
EISSN:
1365-2672
Language
English
PMID
33570824
DOI
10.1111/jam.15034
Web of Science Id
WOS:000623507700001
Abstract
The essence of appropriate nutritional intake on a regular basis has a great impact in maintaining fundamental physiological functions and the body metabolism. Considering how pivotal maintaining a nourishing fat diet is to human health, Omega-3 fatty acids have gained a lot of attention in recent times. Omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and DHA are considered as essential fatty acids (EFAs) offering enormous nutritional benefits: from playing a major role in the prevention and treatment of a number of human diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders and neurological disorders, to having anti-inflammatory properties, to providing joint support, etc. Hence, their incorporation into our daily diet is of great importance. Also, both EPA and DHA have been shown to be therapeutically significant in treating several infectious diseases. EFAs were initially thought to be marine in origin, produced by fishes. Consequentially, this led to the increase in the industrial extraction of fish oils for meeting the commercial need for of n-3-rich dietary supplements. Although fish oil supplementation met almost all of the dietary demand for EFAs, they did come with a fair share of drawbacks such as undesirable odour and flavour, heavy metal contamination, extinction of fish species, etc. Oleaginous micro-organisms are a promising alternative for the production of a more sustainable, consistent and quality production of n-3 FAs. Thus, the entire review focuses on understanding the eco-friendlier production of n-3 FAs by micro-organisms.
Keywords
DHA; EPA; fish; food supplements; oleaginous micro‐ organisms; production
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