ABSTRACT

Microalgae are considered a potentially new and valuable source of biologically active metabolites for industrial applications. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are secondary metabolites obtained from microalgae that could be used as an important alternative source of biobased chemicals. Depending on species, culture medium, and environmental conditions, microalgae are capable of produce a wide variety of the VOCs of different chemical classes such as alcohol, aldehydes, ketones, hydrocarbons, esters, terpenes, and sulfurized compounds. Thus, this chapter covers topics that refer to the factors affecting the production of volatile organic compounds, metabolic pathways, techniques for volatile organic compound recovery, and commercial perspective of volatile compounds produced by microalgae.