Tropical Fruit Wastes as an Organic Nutrient Sources for the Cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris and Haematococcus pluvialis

Abstract

The possibility of replacing the inorganic medium with tropical organic fruit waste medium as a nutrient supplement was evaluated for the cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris and Haematococcus pluvialis in this study. Various concentrations of tropical fruit waste medium such as papaya, pineapple and mango were prepared to cultivate microalgae of C. vulgaris and H. pluvialis. The biomass concentration, productivity and specific growth rate were determined and compared with those grown in a fully inorganic medium. For C. vulgaris, the use of a 20% tropical fruit waste medium was found to yield higher biomass concentration (4.133-4.533 g/L) compared with cultivation in a fully inorganic medium (3.400 g/L). For H. pluvialis, the use of a 10% mango waste medium was found to yield a similar biomass concentration compared with cultivation in a fully inorganic medium (3.400 g/L). These results unveiled the potential of utilizing with tropical organic fruit waste medium as an effective strategy to reduce the cultivation cost of microalgae and treat the tropical fruit waste prior to discharge to the environment.

Keywords

• chlorella vulgaris, haematococcus pluvialis, fruit waste, organic nutrient source