Effects of Light-emitting Diodes (LEDs) on the Accumulation of Lipid Content in Microalgae

Abstract

Conditions of light-emitting diode (LED) wavelength, light intensity, nitrate concentration, and time of exposure to green LED light stress in a two-phase culture were optimized for lipid production with three species of microalgae. Among the three microalgae, Nannochloropsis oculata showed the highest specific growth rate (μmax) of 0.037 h-1 and the lowest saturation constant (Ks) of 1.32 mg/L. The highest lipid contents of the three microalgae in the second phase under green LED light stress were 52.0% (w/w) for Nannochloropsis salina at 2 days, 53.0% (w/w) for Nannochloropsis oceanica at 2 days, and 56.0% for N. oculata at 2 days. Fatty acid analysis of the microalgae showed that 85-87% (w/w) of total fatty acids from N. salina, N. oceanica, and N. oculata consisted of palmitic acid (C16:0) and oleic acid (C18:1).