Effects of culture medium on growth kinetics and fatty acid composition of Chlorella sp. T12

Abstract

Many factors affect the growth performance of microalgae, especially culture medium impacts growth rate and fatty acid composition. Thus, the aims of this study were to investigate the effects of various culture media including NSIII, Chu No.10, BG11 and BBM on the growth kinetics, biomass productivity, lipid content, lipid productivity and fatty acid profiles of cultivated Chlorella sp.T12. The Chlorella sp.T12 was cultured at 25±2 ºC temperature under continuous 3,500 Lux light intensity for 14 days. The culture in BBM medium allowed the highest of the specific growth rate (0.83±0.69 d-1 ), biomass productivity (0.20±0.05 g/l/d), lipid content of the dry weight (14.434%) and lipid productivity (0.029±0.01 g/l/d) and percentage of unsaturated fatty acid (67.56%). The unsaturated fatty acid meet requirement of fatty acid composition that suitable for biodiesel production. Although, the lipid content of cultivation in NSIII was the lowest, the percentage of saturated fatty acid (51.88%) was the highest that suitable for pharmaceutical and cosmetic production. Therefore, the BBM was the best medium choice for cultivating Chlorella sp.T12 to provide high productivity of biomass and lipids that can be used in biodiesel. NSIII was the best medium choice for cultivating Chlorella sp.T12 for pharmaceutical and cosmetic production.

Keywords

• biodiesel
• Chlorella sp.T12
• fatty acids
• lipid content
• microalgae