Strategy Development for Microalgae <i>Spirulina platensis</i> Biomass Cultivation in a Bubble Photobioreactor to Promote High Carbohydrate Content

Abstract

As a counter to climate change, energy crises, and global warming, microalgal biomass has gained a lot of interest as a sustainable and environmentally favorable biofuel feedstock. Microalgal carbohydrate is considered one of the promising feedstocks for biofuel produced via the bioconversion route under a biorefinery system. However, the present culture technique, which uses a commercial medium, has poor biomass and carbohydrate productivity, creating a bottleneck for long-term microalgal-carbohydrate-based biofuel generation. This current investigation aims toward the simultaneous increase in biomass and carbohydrate accumulation of Spirulina platensis by formulating an optimal growth condition under different concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous in flasks and a bubble photobioreactor. For this purpose, the lack of nitrogen (NaNO3) and phosphorous (K2HPO4) in the culture medium resulted in an enhanced Spirulina platensis biomass and total carbohydrate 0.93 ± 0.00 g/L and 74.44% (w/w), respectively. This research is a significant step in defining culture conditions that might be used to tune the carbohydrate content of Spirulina.

Keywords

• algal biomass
• biorefinery
• bioprocess
• phycocyanin
• protein
• pigments