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Low-Cost Production of Green Microalga Botryococcus braunii Biomass with High Lipid Content Through Mixotrophic and Photoautotrophic Cultivation

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Abstract

Botryococcus braunii is a microalga that is regarded as a potential source of renewable fuel because of its ability to produce large amounts of lipid that can be converted into biodiesel. Agro-industrial by-products and wastes are of great interest as cultivation medium for microorganisms because of their low cost, renewable nature, and abundance. In this study, two strategies for low-cost production of B. braunii biomass with high lipid content were performed: (i) the mixotrophic cultivation using molasses, a cheap by-product from the sugar cane plant as a carbon source, and (ii) the photoautotrophic cultivation using nitrate-rich wastewater supplemented with CO2 as a carbon source. The mixotrophic cultivation added with 15 g L−1 molasses produced a high amount of biomass of 3.05 g L−1 with a high lipid content of 36.9 %. The photoautotrophic cultivation in nitrate-rich wastewater supplemented with 2.0 % CO2 produced a biomass of 2.26 g L−1 and a lipid content of 30.3 %. The benefits of this photoautotrophic cultivation are that this cultivation would help to reduce accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide and more than 90 % of the nitrate could be removed from the wastewater. When this cultivation was scaled up in a stirred tank photobioreactor and run with semi-continuous cultivation regime, the highest microalgal biomass of 5.16 g L−1 with a comparable lipid content of 32.2 % was achieved. These two strategies could be promising ways for producing cheap lipid-rich microalgal biomass that can be used as biofuel feedstocks and animal feeds.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financial supported by the International Foundation for Science and Thai Research Fund under Grant MRG5280211. The first author was supported by a grant funded under the program Strategic Scholarships for Frontier Research Network for the Ph.D. Program Thai Doctoral degree from the Office of the Higher Education Commission and Prince of Songkla University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University, Hat-Yai, 90112, Thailand

    Chittra Yeesang & Benjamas Cheirsilp

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  1. Chittra Yeesang
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  2. Benjamas Cheirsilp
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Correspondence to Benjamas Cheirsilp.

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Yeesang, C., Cheirsilp, B. Low-Cost Production of Green Microalga Botryococcus braunii Biomass with High Lipid Content Through Mixotrophic and Photoautotrophic Cultivation. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 174, 116–129 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-1041-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-1041-9

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