Bench-Scale Cultivation of Microalgae <i>Scenedesmus almeriensis</i> for CO<sub>2</sub> Capture and Lutein Production
Antonio Molino,
Sanjeet Mehariya,
Despina Karatza,
Simeone Chianese,
Angela Iovine,
Patrizia Casella,
Tiziana Marino,
Dino Musmarra
Affiliations
Antonio Molino
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Sanjeet Mehariya
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Despina Karatza
Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
Simeone Chianese
Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
Angela Iovine
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Patrizia Casella
ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Tiziana Marino
Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
Dino Musmarra
Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
In this study, Scenedesmus almeriensis as green microalga was cultivated on bench-scale for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and lutein production. The autotrophic cultivation of S. almeriensis was carried out by using a vertical bubble column photo-bioreactor (VBC-PBR) with a continuous flow of a gaseous mixture of oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2), and CO2, the latter in content of 0.0–3.0 %v/v. The liquid phase was batch. S. almeriensis growth was optimized. In addition, lutein extraction was carried out by using accelerated solvent extraction with ethanol as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) solvent at 67 °C and 10 MPa. Upon optimization of CO2 concentration, the maximum biomass productivity, equal to 129.24 mg·L−1·d−1, was achieved during the cultivation by using a content of CO2 equal to 3.0 %v/v and it allowed to obtain a lutein content of 8.54 mg·g−1, which was 5.6-fold higher in comparison to the analogous process carried out without CO2 addition. The ion chemical analysis in the growth medium showed that by gradually increasing CO2 content, the nutrient consumption during the growth phase also increased. This study may be of potential interest for lutein extraction at industrial scale, since it is focused on pigment production from a natural source with a concomitantly CO2 capture.
