Comparison of biomass production and total lipid content of freshwater green microalgae cultivated under various culture conditions

• Published in: Bioprocess and biosystems engineering Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 99 - 106
• Main Authors: Gim, Geun Ho, Kim, Jung Kon, Kim, Hyeon Seok, Kathiravan, Mathur Nadarajan, Yang, Hetong, Jeong, Sang-Hwa, Kim, Si Wouk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-02-2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomass; Biotechnology; Carbon sources; Cell culture; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chlorophyta - classification; Chlorophyta - metabolism; Comparative studies; Cultivation; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Food Science; Freshwater ecology; Glucose - metabolism; Growth conditions; Industrial and Production Engineering; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Light; Light intensity; Lipids; Lipids - analysis; Microalgae; Original Paper; Species Specificity; Total lipid content; Heterotrophic; Mixotrophic; Biomass; Microalga; Autotrophic
• ISSN: 1615-7591; 1615-7605
• DOI: 10.1007/s00449-013-0920-8

The growth and total lipid content of four green microalgae (
Chlorella
sp.,
Chlorella vulgaris
CCAP211/11B,
Botryococcus braunii
FC124 and
Scenedesmus obliquus
R8) were investigated under different culture conditions. Among the various carbon sources tested, glucose produced the largest biomass or microalgae grown heterotrophically. It was found that 1 % (w/v) glucose was actively utilized by
Chlorella
sp.,
C. vulgaris
CCAP211/11B and
B. braunii
FC124, whereas
S. obliquus
R8 preferred 2 % (w/v) glucose. No significant difference in biomass production was noted between heterotrophic and mixotrophic (heterotrophic with light illumination/exposure) growth conditions, however, less production was observed for autotrophic cultivation. Total lipid content in cells increased by approximately two-fold under mixotrophic cultivation with respect to heterotrophic and autotrophic cultivation. In addition, light intensity had an impact on microalgal growth and total lipid content. The highest total lipid content was observed at 100 μmol m
−2
s
−1
for
Chlorella
sp. (22.5 %) and
S. obliquus
R8 (23.7 %) and 80 μmol m
−2
s
−1
for
C. vulgaris
CCAP211/11B (20.1 %) and
B. braunii
FC124 (34.9 %).