The Astaxanthin Market is projected to reach USD 965 million by 2026, from USD 647 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period.
Astaxanthin is recognized as the most powerful antioxidant in nature, wherein according to a 2019 report by NCBI, astaxanthin has established its benefits as a vital nutrient for human consumption. Its unique structure helps it to scavenge free radicals and protect the body against oxidative damage. Therefore, it is called super antioxidant.
The growing awareness about the health benefits of natural astaxanthin the demand for astaxanthin is expected to increase in the coming years.
Natural astaxanthin is primarily extracted from astaxanthin-containing marine plants, such as algae and biosynthesized, by living microalgae or yeast production. It is over 95% esterified and is 3.5 times more expensive as compared to synthetic astaxanthin. Natural astaxanthin is commonly preferred by the end-user industry as consumers are willing to spend more to get higher-quality products, and their harvest is usually done by centrifugation, drying, and cracking of the Haematococcus pluvialis cells.
Liquid form is projected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period.
Astaxanthin in the liquid form is used for manufacturing soft gels, oil extracts, and beadlets. Liquid astaxanthin finds various applications, such as syrups and texturing agents used in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. Liquid nutraceutical ingredients are difficult to use during scaling and temperature. However, astaxanthin in the liquid form is still used in various applications discussed above.
The microalgae cultivation segment, by method of production, is projected to be the fastest-growing at a CAGR of 9.4% during the forecast period.
The microalga H. Pluvialis is the richest source of astaxanthin. It contains 5% of dried H. pluvialis biomass, of which 90% comprises astaxanthin. The cultivation process consists of two stages—the green stage and the red stage. In the green stage, a single-cell colony of microalgae is allowed to grow unstressed by normal cell division. Optimal growth conditions are given to the “green” algal cells for maximum growth. In the second stage, cells are put through various stress conditions, such as high radiation intensity and changes in growth media. These conditions result in the production and accumulation of natural astaxanthin in the cells in the esterified form.
The key service providers in this market include Koninklijke DSM N.V. (the Netherlands), BASF SE (Germany), Cyanotech Corporation (US), Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd. (Japan), Divi’s Laboratories Ltd. (India), Valensa International (US), Fuji Chemical Industries Co. Ltd. (Japan), Beijing Gingko Group (China), Cardax, Inc. (Denmark), Piveg, Inc (US), Fenchem Biotek Ltd. (China), Algatech Ltd. (Israel), Supreme Biotechnologies (New Zealand), Igene Biotechnology Inc. (US), Algamo (Czech Republic), Biogenic Co. Ltd. (Japan), Astamaz NZ Ltd. (New Zealand), Algalif (Iceland), Algae to Omega (US), and Algae Health Sciences (US).
