Market demand for microbial pigments
Microbial pigment production has significantly increased in geometric proportions through current genetic engineering techniques. Microbes also have an upper hand in versatility and productivity over higher forms of life in the industrial-scale production of natural pigments and dyes. The fermentation process has been increased by genetic engineering and further research for nontoxic microbial pigments can make quantum leaps in the economics of microbial pigment production (Galasso et al., 2017). People all around the world have been affected by synthetic food colouring agents because of the negative impact on synthetic pigments. There is a need for natural pigments from biological organisms, especially marine biofilm bacterial communities. To expand the availability of natural colourants derived from various natural resources world-wide. Over the past few years, a major trend that has influenced pigment production has been the increase in globalisation, reorganization, and internationalisation. Global Industry Analysts predicts that demand for organic pigments and dyes will exceed 10 million tonnes by 2017. Initially dominated by suppliers from the UK, Switzerland, and Germany, the global dye manufacturing business later transitioned to Asia over the previous 20 years (Venil et al., 2013). But still, there is scanty data available on the market price of food-grade microbial pigments. Only a few pigments, such as beta-carotene, astaxanthin, and Monascus, are available on the market. Due to a lack of research reports on their cost and demand, it is becoming more challenging to estimate the actual global market demand for microbial pigments (Chatragadda & Dufossé, 2021).