** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE DEMAND FOR NON-ANIMAL AND SUSTAINABLE PROTEIN SOURCES HAVE BEEN INCREASING DUE TO INCREASING POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS. MICROALGAE REPRESENT A PROMISING AND SUSTAINABLE SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS. THE MARKET CURRENTLY OFFERS ONLY A LIMITED SELECTION OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING MICROALGAE DUE TO THE UNDESIRABLE SENSORY PROPERTIES (E.G., THE FISHY OFF-FLAVOR AND COLOR) AND SCALABLE PRODUCTION OF MICROALGAE INGREDIENTS. TO BROADEN THE APPLICATIONS OF ALGAE-BASED INGREDIENTS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY, THIS PROJECT AIMS TO APPLY GENOME-SCALE METABOLIC MODELS (GSMM), AN ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL TOOL, TO ENABLE ENHANCED NUTRIENT CONTENT, IMPROVED FLAVOR PROFILES, AND EFFICIENT PRODUCTION IN MICROALGAE. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO PAVE THE WAY FOR MICROALGAE TO BECOME A SUSTAINABLE, APPEALING, AND NUTRITIOUS COMPONENT OF DAILY DIETS, PARTICULARLY AS AN ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN SOURCE.THIS PROJECT EMPLOYS AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH COMBINING GSMM WITH PRACTICAL CULTIVATION EXPERIMENTS TO IMPROVE NUTRIENT AND FLAVOR PROFILES OF MICROALGAE. IN PARTICULAR, THE PROJECT TARGETS TO INCREASE PROTEIN AND ANTIOXIDANT PIGMENTS IN THE MICROALGAE WHILE REDUCING THE BITTERNESS COMPOUNDS AND UNDESIRABLE VOLATILES. THE OPTIMIZED INGREDIENTS WILL BE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE FOOD PRODUCTS WHICH WILL BE EVALUATED FOR THEIR CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE, PRODUCT QUALITY, SHELF-LIFE, ETC. THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT WILL BRING NOVEL MICROALGAE WITH DESIRABLE NUTRITIONAL AND SENSORY PROPERTIES AS FOOD INGREDIENTS TO THE FOOD INDUSTRY AND VARIOUS ALGAE-BASED PRODUCTS TO THE MARKET.