Biological Contamination: A Serious Constraint in Large Scale Microalgae Biomass Production

Microalgae biomass is a budding raw material for the origination of food, fuel, and other value-added products. However, bulk production of microalgal biomass at commercial level is a herculean task for the current microalgal mass production technologies due to the undesirable contaminations by biological pollutants. These contaminants hamstring the production of microalgae biomass by debilitating the growth of cultures, crumble the quality of biomass and sometimes may crash the whole culture. The best utilization of the microalgae biomass at industrial level could be attained by avoiding various possible biological contaminations in mass cultivation system, understanding the contamination mechanisms, and the complex interactions of algae with other microorganisms. This review explores the various types of biological pollutants, their possible mode of infection along with mechanisms, different controlling methods to maintain desired microalgae culture.