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Isolation, Identification, and Evaluation of the Lipid Content of Desmodesmus communis from the Ecuadorian Amazon

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate biomass generation and determine the total lipid content of a microalgae isolated from a lagoon of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The morphological identification of the isolated microalgae was done through bibliographic comparisons and molecular identification by PCR followed by DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. A 10-day batch culture was operated in 1-L glass bottles, and nutrient removal was determined daily. After harvesting, biomass was centrifuged to remove most of the water content. Half of the obtained biomass was kept wet and the other half was dried for further analysis. Cell growth, optical density, and dry weight were measured during cultivation time. In addition, total lipid and free fatty acid (FFA) percentages were evaluated. Removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrates (NO3−), and phosphates (PO43−) was 33.12%, 67.77%, and 76.73%, respectively. The biomass concentration was 2.19 ± 0.12 g/L with a productivity of 0.22 g/L per day. The best extraction percentages of total lipids and FFA were 18.43% and 61.46%, respectively. Although the results of lipids and FFA do not reach the required limits, the productivity of biomass and lipids is comparable with species that are cultivated for biodiesel production.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

FFA:

Free fatty acids

BG11:

Blue-Green Medium

ITS:

Internal transcribed spacer

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

NCBI:

National Center for Biotechnology Information

BLAST:

Basic Local Alignment Search Tool

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

TN:

Total nitrogen

TP:

Total phosphorous

TOC:

Total organic carbon

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the help provided by the personnel of the Limoncocha Biological Reserve during the collection of water samples.

Funding

This work was supported by the DII project P101617_2.2 of the SEK International University, Ecuador; other materials and equipment were donated by the Corporation for Energy Research of Ecuador.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ingenierías Y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad Internacional SEK, Quito, Ecuador

    Encalada-Rosales Paula, Medrano-Barboza Johanna & Aguirre-Bravo Alberto

  2. Facultad de Ciencias de La Salud, Universidad Internacional SEK, Quito, Ecuador

    Ramírez-Iglesias José Rubén & Navarro Juan Carlos

  3. Facultad de Ciencias de La Vida, Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Puyo, Ecuador

    Moyón Jennifer

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  1. Encalada-Rosales Paula
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  4. Ramírez-Iglesias José Rubén
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  5. Navarro Juan Carlos
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Contributions

Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Paula Encalada; the morphological identification was performed by Jennifer Moyón. Molecular and phylogenetic analysis were performed by José Rubén Ramírez and Juan Carlos Navarro. Analysis of data was performed by Johanna Medrano and Alberto Aguirre. The first draft of the manuscript was written, reviewed, and edited by Johanna Medrano and Paula Encalada. The manuscript was reviewed by all authors, who commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Medrano-Barboza Johanna.

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Competing Interests

Paula Encalada received travel support from SEK International University to the Limoncocha Biological Reserve to sample collection. Jennifer Moyón received financial support as an honorary consultant from SEK International University. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Paula, ER., Johanna, MB., Alberto, AB. et al. Isolation, Identification, and Evaluation of the Lipid Content of Desmodesmus communis from the Ecuadorian Amazon. Bioenerg. Res. 16, 1789–1800 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-022-10543-w

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