Sustainable Fucoxanthin Production from Diatoms via Green Phytohormones

Abstract

This critical literature review evaluates sustainable strategies for fucoxanthin production from diatoms, addressing the bottleneck of relying on costly, synthetic phytohormones. The methodology comprises a comprehensive bibliographic search across academic databases, primarily Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, to synthesize recent peer-reviewed studies spanning from 2011 to 2026. By systematically comparing green phytohormone sourcing, this paper introduces a zero-waste biorefinery paradigm for scalable pigment biosynthesis. Quantitative synthesis reveals that phytohormone application drastically enhances pigment yields; notably, mixotrophic Skeletonema costatum treated with 3 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) achieved fucoxanthin productivities of 442.11 µg/L/day, while Phaeodactylum tricornutum yielded 36.01 mg/L when elicited with 6-benzylaminopurine and 5-aminolevulinic acid. While wastewater provides a zero-cost nutrient stream, this analysis establishes that symbiotic microalgae-bacteria consortia offer a superior commercial approach. These engineered systems naturally supply essential elicitors like IAA in a controlled loop, bypassing contamination risks and intensive pretreatment costs. Ultimately, this review aims to identify the most economically viable and ecologically sustainable pathway for pharmaceutical-grade fucoxanthin production.