Abstract
The treatment and utilization of cheese whey (W) represents one of the major challenges facing the dairy industry. In this work the production of Chlorella vulgaris and its potential use in recovering the main nutrients (N, P and C) from cheese whey was evaluated in batch and continuous mode. Four different treatments were evaluated: Fertilizers-control (100% freshwater plus chemical fertilizers); Fertilizers-2.5%W (v/v), Fertilizers-5%W (v/v) and Fertilizers-10%W (v/v). The biomass productivity was affected by the percentage of cheese whey added, resulting in a 2.8-fold increase when adding 10% cheese whey to the culture medium. In addition, the cheese whey concentration in the culture medium also affected the overall macromolecular composition of the biomass along with the appearance and growth of aerobic mesophilic bacteria. Despite the high concentration of organic matter in the cheese whey (COD, 60.000 mg L-1), C. vulgaris was able to recover more than 80% of COD in continuous mode, along with 94 % and 60% of TN and TP, respectively. These promising results can be explained by the mixotrophic activity of C. vulgaris, which was demonstrated by the decrease in the chlorophyll content when cheese whey was added to the culture medium and by photo-respirometric assays. The use of cheese whey for microalgal biomass production represents a sustainable alternative to revaluate this by-product stream and contribute to the circular economy.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank José Escánez for his technical assistance.
Funding
This research forms part of the ALGA4FF Project funded by the Regional Government of Andalusia (P20_00812) and by the H2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme (project: PRODIGIO, 101007006). This study was also supported by the Campus of International Excellence of the Sea (CEIMAR) through the Young Research Project Program 2022 (project: ALGABIOTIC) and by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grant TED2021-131555B-C21 ALGAHUB). A. Sánchez-Zurano would like to thank the University of Almeria (Contract Puente, UAL Program 2022), T. Lafarga, and the Ramon y Cajal Programme (RYC2021-031061-I).
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A.S, S.V and M.C carried out the research, formal analysis and data curation. A.S wrote the main manuscript text and prepared the figures. J.M and F.G obtained the funding and supervised the study. T.L supervised the study and reviewed the manuscript.
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Sánchez-Zurano, A., Villaró-Cos, S., Ciardi, M. et al. Assessment of the mixotrophic production of Chlorella vulgaris using milk whey as a nutrient source. J Appl Phycol 36, 87–100 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03142-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03142-5