Effect of Red and Blue LEDs on the Production of Phycocyanin by Spirulina Platensis Based on Photosynthetically Active Radiation

Abstract

Phycocyanin (PC) is a kind of valuable pigment extracted from spirulina platensis (S. platensis). Light environment is one of the most important factors on the production of PC. Using light-emitting diode (LED) light sources, the S. platensis was cultured with five different ratios of red and blue photons. Pho-tosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) was precisely controlled by the function relationship between PAR, junction temperature and forward current. The comparative analysis shows that blue light is conducive to improve the mass fraction of PC, but the total production per incubator is lower than the one obtained under red light.