Considerations for Cultivating and Processing Botryococcus braunii

Botryococcus braunii is a colony-forming green microalga that is best known for its ability to produce large amounts of extracellular hydrocarbon oils. This review describes recent efforts to build a better understanding of the biological performance of B. braunii under various cultivation conditions, as well as methods to process the biomass and recover products with commercial potential. Challenges are identified, and strategies are discussed to overcome barriers to commercialization.