Chlorella vulgaris H1993 and Desmodesmus communis H522 for low-cost production of high-value microalgal products

Abstract

Recently, scientists are focused on the discovery of alternative sources of high-value products such as proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. Microalgal cells have great potential for accumulation of bioactive components important in food, feed, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, as sources of biofuel, for waste water remediation, etc. The main advantages of microalgae as producers of bioactive components are fast biomass growth; short reproduction cycle; resistance to harsh conditions and contaminations; smaller area for growing in comparison with agriculture crops, etc. However, the production of high-value components from microalgae biomass is still associated with high costs, so efforts are focused on cost reduction. This study evaluated the possibilities for production of low-cost high-value products from two microalgal strains, Chlorela vulgaris CAUP H1993 and Desmodesmus communis CAUP H522. Microalgal biomass was grown under simple low-cost media supplemented with urea as nitrogen source for extraction of crude protein. To completely utilize the harvested biomass, we applied two consecutive steps of the extraction procedure for protein and lipids accumulated in the exhausted biomass. The media supplemented with urea was promising, especially for growing C. vulgaris H1993 CAUP. The results showed that after two consecutive extraction steps, it is possible to obtain 8–9.0% crude protein and 21–24% lipids from the exhausted dry biomass of D. communis and C. vulgaris, respectively.

Keywords

• green algae
• low-cost microalgal biomass production
• polyunsaturated fatty acids
• urea