Assessment of the potential of Dunaliella microalgae for different biotechnological applications: A systematic review

Dunaliella sp. microalgae are well known for their use in the recovery of high value compounds or as whole cells in various biotechnological applications. The aim of this work aims to review the applications of Dunaliella sp. in the production of compounds with therapeutic (antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory) activity, in bioremediation techniques and in the production of biofuels. A literature search conducted using Google Scholar, Science Direct and NCBI (PubMed) electronic databases made it possible to select original studies published in English from 2009 to 2020. Two authors of this review independently assessed, against six eligibility criteria, a total of 651 articles, 88 of which were selected for further analysis and subjected to risk of bias assessment. In most of the studies Dunaliella salina was used in therapeutic applications, mainly related to the anti-inflammatory activity of carotenoids as well as the antioxidant activity of whole cells. Bioremediation was the second most reported application using whole cells of the Dunaliella salina species, while the lipid fraction of Dunaliella tertiolecta biomass was used for biofuels production. Most of the articles responded positively to the criteria, for which they were considered to be at low risk of bias, while only one criterion was at high risk and one at medium risk of bias. The survey highlighted positive effects of Dunaliella biomass and its compounds in different biotechnological applications. However, further studies focused on the mechanisms of action of Dunaliella for therapeutic use, bioremediation and biofuel production are needed to improve outcomes.