Influence of nutrient‐stress conditions on chlorella vulgaris biomass production and lipid content

Abstract

Microalgal biomass and its cellular components are used as substrates for the production of fuels. A valuable group among the components of microalgal biomass is lipids, which act as a precursor for the production of biodiesel in the transesterification process. Some methods, including the creation of stressful conditions, are applied to increase the accumulation of lipids. This study aimed to determine the effect of limited nutrient access on the growth and development of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris and the amount of lipids stored in its cells. Aquaculture wastewater (AWW) was used in the study as a source of nutrients at doses of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%. The amount of microalgal biomass, optical density, lipid content after extraction of the biomass in Soxhlet apparatus and chlorophyll a content were determined. It was observed that the microalgae efficiently used the nutrients contained in the AWW. The largest amount of biomass was obtained in AWW80 (727 ± 19.64 mg∙L−1). The OD680 (0.492 ± 0.00) determined under the same conditions was almost five times higher in AWW than in the synthetic medium. Under nutrient‐stress conditions, the content of lipids in biomass ranged from 5.75% (AWW80) to 11.81% (AWW20). The highest content of chlorophyll a in microalgal cells was obtained in AWW20 (206 ± 11.33 mg∙m−3).