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Lipid Production of Heterotrophic Chlorella sp. from Hydrolysate Mixtures of Lipid-Extracted Microalgal Biomass Residues and Molasses

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Abstract

This study investigated the feasibility of lipid production of Chlorella sp. from waste materials. Lipid-extracted microalgal biomass residues (LMBRs) and molasses were hydrolyzed, and their hydrolysates were analyzed. Five different hydrolysate mixture ratios (w/w) of LMBRs/molasses (1/0, 1/1, 1/4, 1/9, and 0/1) were used to cultivate Chlorella sp. The results showed that carbohydrate and protein were the two main compounds in the LMBRs, and carbohydrate was the main compound in the molasses. The highest biomass concentration of 5.58 g/L, Y biomass/sugars of 0.59 g/g, lipid productivity of 335 mg/L/day, and Y lipids/sugars of 0.25 g/g were obtained at the hydrolysate mixture ratio of LMBRs/molasses of 1/4. High C/N ratio promoted the conversion of sugars into lipids. The lipids extracted from Chlorella sp. shared similar lipid profile of soybean oil and is therefore a potential viable biodiesel feedstock. These results showed that Chlorella sp. can utilize mixed sugars and amino acids from LMBRs and molasses to accumulate lipids efficiently, thus reducing the cost of microalgal biodiesel production and improving its economic viability.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Research Program of Sate Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, China (Grant No. SKLF-ZZB-201312), the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Project) (Grant No. 2011CB200906), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Project) (Grant Nos. 2012AA021704, 2012AA021205, and 2014AA022004), China International Cooperation Projects (Grant No. 2014DFA61040), the Science and Technology Project of Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology (Grant Nos. 20142BBF60007 and 2013AFC30044), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21266022).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. MOE Biomass Energy Research Center and College of Food Science and State Key Laboratory of Food Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, 330047, People’s Republic of China

      Hongli Zheng, Yiqin Wan, Yuhuan Liu & Roger Ruan

    2. Center for Biorefining and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, 1390 Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA

      Xiaochen Ma, Min Min, Wenguang Zhou, Yun Li, Paul Chen & Roger Ruan

    3. Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A3 Datun Road., Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

      Xiaochen Ma

    4. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, No. 5 Xinmofan Road, Nanjing, 210009, People’s Republic of China

      Zhen Gao & He Huang

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    1. Hongli Zheng
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    Correspondence to Roger Ruan.

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    Hongli Zheng and Xiaochen Ma contributed equally to this work.

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    Zheng, H., Ma, X., Gao, Z. et al. Lipid Production of Heterotrophic Chlorella sp. from Hydrolysate Mixtures of Lipid-Extracted Microalgal Biomass Residues and Molasses. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 177, 662–674 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1770-4

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-015-1770-4

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