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Enhancing the production of astaxanthin by mixotrophic cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis in open raceway ponds

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Abstract

Mixotrophic cultivation of Haematococcus is efficient to increase astaxanthin productivity. However, application of this technique in open bioreactors is restricted because of bacterial contamination. In this study, mixotrophic cultivation of Haematococcus was carried out successfully in an outdoor raceway pond. The Haematococcus cells grew on light first, and then acetate/acetic acid was supplemented when nitrate was depleted from the culture media. Under such conditions, Haematococcus cells grew on intracellular nitrogen pool, while bacterial reproduction was limited. The average astaxanthin productivity reached 140 mg m−2day−1, which is about 1.2 times that of the simple phototrophic cultivation. This study explores a potential way to enhance astaxanthin productivity, and the results are helpful to the development of the Haematococcus industries.

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Abbreviations

OD540 :

Optical density at wavelength of 540 nm

Chl a :

Chlorophyll a

Chl b :

Chlorophyll b

T-Car:

Total carotenoids

Asta:

Astaxanthin

HL:

High light

LL:

Low light

CFU:

Bacterial colony-forming unit

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Science and Technology Service Network Initiative of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KFJ-SW-STS-163). We thank Dr. Deborah Ballantine for English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Xiaobin Wen, Zhongjie Wang, Yi Ding, Yahong Geng & Yeguang Li

  2. Center of Economic Botany, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Xiaobin Wen, Zhongjie Wang, Yi Ding, Yahong Geng & Yeguang Li

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  1. Xiaobin Wen
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  2. Zhongjie Wang
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  3. Yi Ding
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  4. Yahong Geng
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  5. Yeguang Li
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Correspondence to Yeguang Li.

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Wen, X., Wang, Z., Ding, Y. et al. Enhancing the production of astaxanthin by mixotrophic cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis in open raceway ponds. Aquacult Int 28, 625–638 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-019-00483-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-019-00483-2

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