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Growth and Metabolite Production in Chlorella sp.: Analysis of Cultivation System and Nutrient Reduction

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Abstract

Microalgae are a sustainable source for many bioproduct syntheses. This study shows how different cultivation systems and nutrient concentrations affect Chlorella sp. development. The cultivation was performed in open and closed lab-scale systems. A Tukey test was used to evaluate the significant differences between the microalgae growth and composition under the two systems analyzed. The effect of nitrogen and phosphorus concentration was analyzed with a 22 full factorial design. Lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and pigments were extracted and quantified. The highest specific growth rate (0.52 1/day) was obtained in the open pond, with a cell density of 5.06 × 107 cells/mL and a biomass concentration of 1.30 mg/mL. In this condition, the higher concentration of pigments was obtained: 13 μg/mg of chlorophyll-a, 15 μg/mg of chlorophyll-b, and 2 μg/mg of carotenoids. An expressive increase in the lipid (from 17 to 35%) was obtained in low nitrogen and high phosphorus. Protein percentage increases with both nutrients at a higher level, reaching up to 60%. The percentage of carbohydrates decreases from 32 to 13% with phosphorus reduction. Thus, this study points out the conditions that benefit the accumulation of each Chlorella sp. metabolite, contributing to the decision-making for the cultivation and applications of this microalgae.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for financial support through grant numbers 88887.372659/2019-00; the FAPESP Research Foundation for the technical support provided for the thematic project (grant numbers 2015/20630-4); the Ma. Danúbia Santiago Martins, for the help in the raceway design and AutoCAD® plotting; and the company AgnoLab for the raceway printing.

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel — CAPES (grant numbers 88887.372659/2019–00) and the São Paulo Research Foundation — FAPESP (thematic project) (grant numbers 2015/20630–4).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Optimization, Design and Advanced Control, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, 13083-852, Brazil

    Bianca Ramos Estevam, Luisa Fernanda Ríos Pinto, Rubens Maciel Filho & Leonardo Vasconcelos Fregolente

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  1. Bianca Ramos Estevam
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  2. Luisa Fernanda Ríos Pinto
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Contributions

Bianca Ramos Estevam: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing — original draft, and visualization.

Luisa Fernanda Ríos Pinto: conceptualization, supervision, validation, and writing review and editing.

Rubens Maciel Filho: supervision, resources, and funding acquisition.

Leonardo Vasconcelos Fregolente: conceptualization, supervision, resources, funding acquisition, project administration, and writing — review and editing.

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Correspondence to Luisa Fernanda Ríos Pinto.

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Estevam, B.R., Pinto, L.F.R., Filho, R.M. et al. Growth and Metabolite Production in Chlorella sp.: Analysis of Cultivation System and Nutrient Reduction. Bioenerg. Res. 16, 1829–1840 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-022-10532-z

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