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Cost Reduction in the Production of Spirulina Biomass and Biomolecules from Indole-3-Acetic Acid Supplementation in Different Growth Phases

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Abstract

Despite the great potential for the industrial application of microalgae, production costs are still too high to make them a competitive raw material for commodities. Therefore, studying more efficient cultivation strategies in biomass production and economic viability is necessary. In this sense, this work aimed to reduce the production costs of biomass and biomolecules using phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid in different phases of Spirulina sp. LEB 18 cultivation. The experiments were conducted on bench scale indoor for 30 days. In each couple of experiments, the phytohormone was added on different days. The supplementation of indole-3-acetic acid on half of the growth deceleration phase of the microalga showed a cost reduction of 27%, 34%, and 75% for biomass, proteins, and carbohydrates, respectively. In addition, the strategy increased the final biomass concentration and carbohydrate content at 31.2 and 33.8%, respectively, compared to the condition without phytohormone. This study is the starting point for implementing phytohormone supplementation in industrial microalgal cultures.

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Data Availability

The data generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. Financial support was also provided by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Food Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande, Av. Itália, Km 8, P.O. Box 474, Rio Grande, RS, CEP 96203-900, Brazil

    Jéssica Teixeira da Silveira, Ana Priscila Centeno da Rosa & Jorge Alberto Vieira Costa

  2. Laboratory of Microbiology and Biochemistry, College of Chemistry and Food Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande, P.O. Box 474, Rio Grande, RS, 96203-900, Brazil

    Michele Greque de Morais

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  1. Jéssica Teixeira da Silveira
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  2. Ana Priscila Centeno da Rosa
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Contributions

JTS, APCR, MGM, and JAVC: conceptualization. JTS: data curation, formal analysis, validation, writing—original draft. APCR, MGM, and JAVC: writing—review and editing, supervision. MGM and JAVC: resources, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Jorge Alberto Vieira Costa.

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Silveira, J.T., Rosa, A.P.C., Morais, M.G. et al. Cost Reduction in the Production of Spirulina Biomass and Biomolecules from Indole-3-Acetic Acid Supplementation in Different Growth Phases. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 195, 2882–2892 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04251-6

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