Developing the Alga Euglena gracilis as a Source of Vegan Omega Oils and Other High Value Compounds

Omega oils or Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) are essential for human health and are derived from marine food sources. This project will develop the use of the alga Euglena gracilis as an alternative production of these oils and investigate high value co-products to improve the economic viability of these production systems. This industrial CASE studentship project is a collaboration between the O’Neill lab, with expertise in Euglena metabolism and cell biology, and AlgaeCytes who are pioneering the use of photobioreactor systems and freshwater green algal strains to produce high purity Omega oils to replace fish oils in as nutritional supplements. This project is ideal for a student interested in industrial application of algal biotechnology and will take the fundamental knowledge of algal metabolism to trial commercial production and evaluate the economic viability of a Euglena based vegan Omega oil.

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/bbdtp/case-2020/case-projects/developing-the-alga-euglena-gracilis-as-a-source-of-vegan-omega-oils-and-other-high-value-compounds.aspx