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Biomass and oil content of Chlorella sp., Haematococcus sp., Nannochloris sp. and Scenedesmus sp. under mixotrophic growth conditions in the presence of technical glycerol

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Abstract

The growth of algae strains Chlorella sp., Haematococcus sp., Nannochloris sp. and Scenedesmus sp. under mixotrophic conditions in the presence of different concentrations of technical glycerol was investigated with the aim of increasing biomass growth and algae oil content. The highest concentration of lipid obtained in media with 5 g L−1 glycerol for Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., Nannochloris sp. and Haematococcus sp. was 17.77, 22.34, 27.55 and 34.22 % larger than during the autotrophic growth of these species. Increases in triacylglycerols of up to ten times was observed for Scenedesmus sp. under mixotrophic conditions (using 10 g L−1 glycerol), whereas an increase of 2.28 times was found for Haematococcus sp. The content of saturated fatty acids of Scenedesmus, Chlorella, Haematococcus and Nannochloris was 67.11, 34.63, 23.39 and 24.23 %, and the amount of unsaturated fatty acids was 32.9, 65.06, 79.61 and 75.78 % of total fatty acids, respectively. Growth on technical glycerol of these strains with light produced higher biomass concentrations and lipid content compared with autotrophic growth. The fatty acid content of oils from these species suggests their potential use as biodiesel feedstock.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant (No. MIP-046/2012) from the Research Council of Lithuania. A portion of this work was funded by the European Union Structural Funds project “Postdoctoral Fellowship Implementation in Lithuania” (VP1-3.1-SMM-01).

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  1. Vaida Andruleviciute

    Present address: Biochemistry department, Lithuanian University of Health Science, Tilzes str. 18, LT 47181, Kaunas, Lithuania

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environment and Ecology, Laboratory of Chemical and Biochemical Research for Environmental Technology, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu str. 11, LT53361, Akademija, Lithuania

    Violeta Makareviciene, Virginija Skorupskaite & Milda Gumbyte

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  1. Vaida Andruleviciute
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  2. Violeta Makareviciene
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  3. Virginija Skorupskaite
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Correspondence to Violeta Makareviciene.

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Andruleviciute, V., Makareviciene, V., Skorupskaite, V. et al. Biomass and oil content of Chlorella sp., Haematococcus sp., Nannochloris sp. and Scenedesmus sp. under mixotrophic growth conditions in the presence of technical glycerol. J Appl Phycol 26, 83–90 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-013-0048-x

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