Inexpensive and universal growth media for biomass production of microalgae

Abstract

<p>New challenges for industrial microbiology and biotechnology of algae are to increase the efficiency of microalgae growth rates and decrease the cultivation costs. Algae could be cultivated in fresh water as well as in salty sea water or wastewater. Microalgae biomass can be used as a sorbent to remove microcontaminants (e.g. heavy metals, biogens) from wastewater. The obtained results showed that there is a possibility of application of a cheap and universal growing medium (Bf) despite common fertilizers: Bristol or BG-11 to cultivate Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus armatus. The mixotrophic condition can be useful for cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus armatus. The highest concentrations of algal biomass for both species were determined after the application of the Bf medium, lower after the BG-11 medium and the lowest after the Br medium in autotrophic as well as mixotrophic conditions. The number of C. vulgaris cells in mixotrophic conditions was higher than S. armatus. The utilization of cheap growing media will lowering the production costs of algal biomass on a large scale.</p>