Vol. 11, Issue 3 (2022)

Author(s):
Parmdeep Singh Dhanda and Arpitha Shankar

Abstract:
Pigments have been the subject of a lot of research in the last few decades because of their wide range of applications in medicine, cosmetics, biofuels, the food industry, and many other fields. More than half of all industrial pigments were made with artificial pigments at the time. Because they have been linked to a wide range of cancers and other long-term illnesses in humans, the use of these synthetic pigments has been a major source of worry. To deal with these big problems, natural pigments that come from natural sources might be a good option. When natural pigments were first made, they were made from vegetables. However, as the demand for natural pigments has grown, microalgae have the potential to become a major source of pigment production in the future, as well. Natural food colours have become more popular in recent years because they don't have as much of an impact on the environment as synthetic food colours do. Natural-blend pigments, which have grown in value at a rate of 5% to 10% per year over the last decade, now make up 31% of the world's colourant market, while synthetic pigments make up 40%. So, Algal biotechnology may one day allow for the commercial production of natural pigments on a large scale at a cheap price and in less time because of this.