Barreto JVDO, Casanova LM, Junior AN, Reis-Mansur MCPP, Vermelho AB. Microbial Pigments: Major Groups and Industrial Applications.
Microorganisms 2023;
11:2920. [PMID:
38138065 PMCID:
PMC10745774 DOI:
10.3390/microorganisms11122920]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbial pigments have many structures and functions with excellent characteristics, such as being biodegradable, non-toxic, and ecologically friendly, constituting an important source of pigments. Industrial production presents a bottleneck in production cost that restricts large-scale commercialization. However, microbial pigments are progressively gaining popularity because of their health advantages. The development of metabolic engineering and cost reduction of the bioprocess using industry by-products opened possibilities for cost and quality improvements in all production phases. We are thus addressing several points related to microbial pigments, including the major classes and structures found, the advantages of use, the biotechnological applications in different industrial sectors, their characteristics, and their impacts on the environment and society.
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