Different nitrogen sources and growth responses of Spirulina platensis in microenvironments

Abstract

Spirulina platensis was cultivated, in comparative studies, using several sources of nitrogen. The standard source used (sodium nitrate) was the same as that used in the synthetic medium Zarrouk, whereas the alternative nitrogen sources consisted of ammonium nitrate, urea, ammonium chloride, ammonium sulphate or acid ammonium phosphate. The initial nitrogen concentrations tested were 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 M in an aerated photobioreactor at 30 °C, with an illuminance of 1900 lux, and 12 h-light/12 h-dark photoperiod over a period of 672 h. Maximum biomass was produced in medium containing sodium nitrate (0.01–0.03–0.05 M), followed by ammonium nitrate (0.01 M) and urea (0.01 M). The final biomass concentrations were 1.992 g l⁻¹ (0.03 M sodium nitrate), 1.628 g l⁻¹ (0.05 M sodium nitrate), 1.559 g l⁻¹ (0.01 M sodium nitrate), 0.993 g l⁻¹ (0.01 M ammonium nitrate) and 0.910 g l⁻¹ (0.01 M urea). This suggested that it is possible to utilize nitrogen sources other than sodium nitrate for growing S. platensis, in order to decrease the production costs of scaled up projects.