Effect of the Culture Nutrients on the Biomass and Lipid Productivities of Microalgae Dunaliella tertiolecta

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2013

Authors

Teresa M. Mata (Author) FEUP; Ricardo, A. (Author) Other; Nídia de Sá Caetano (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Vol. 32

Pages: 973-978

ISSN: 1974-9791

Publisher: Italian Association of Chemical Engineering - AIDIC

Indexing

ISI Web of Science

Scopus

Associated Projects

UI0511 - PROJECTO ESTRATÉGICO - UI 511 - 2013-2014

Other information

DOI: 10.3303/CET1332163

Abstract (EN): This work analyses the influence of macro and micronutrients on the growth, biomass and lipid productivities of Dunaliella tertiolecta (D. tertiolecta), showing that with the exception of Nitrogen (N) and Iron (Fe), the other nutrients added to the culture medium - Magnesium (Mg), Potassium (K), Manganese (Mn) and Zinc (Zn) - did not influence the studied parameters. The best maximum and average dry biomass productivities were respectively 141.8 mg/L/d and 63.1 mg/L/d, obtained in the 5th day of the test, by increasing the N concentration 10 times in comparison to the standard culture medium “artificial seawater medium with vitamins”. In these conditions, the lipid content and maximum lipid productivity were respectively 33.5 % and 47.4 mg/L/d, corresponding to more than three times the value in the standard conditions (13.3 mg/L/d). Also, by increasing the Fe concentration 10 times in the culture medium, the maximum lipid productivity increased to almost the double, i.e. from 14.6 mg/L/d to 28.0 mg/L/d, obtained in the 28th day of the test. Therefore, N and Fe addition to the culture medium resulted in a significant increase in lipid productivity, suggesting that residual wastewaters rich in N or Fe could be used to cultivate D. tertiolecta for lipid production.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6