ABSTRACT
Intense efforts have been made to develop new, alternative, and unconventional protein sources in anticipation of increasing world population and insufficient protein supplies. The idea of utilizing proteins from bacteria, yeast, fungi, and algae was considered as a distinct possibility for at least partially meeting the global protein shortages. The term single cell protein (SCP) was coined in 1966 to designate the protein obtained from microbial sources. More recently, the term biomass protein (BMP) has been introduced to describe the protein production of biomass from different microbial sources. Both terms are not quite correct, because SCP from algae is definitely more than protein, the algal biomass consisting of a whole spectrum of compounds typical for living organisms, viz., protein, peptides, free amino acids, amines, nucleic acids, various carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals, etc.
