Pigments Production, Growth Kinetics, and Bioenergetic Patterns in Dunaliella tertiolecta (Chlorophyta) in Response to Different Culture Media

Yanara Alessandra Santana Moura, Daniela de Araújo Viana-Marques, Ana Lúcia Figueiredo Porto, Raquel Pedrosa Bezerra and Attilio Converti
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Yanara Alessandra Santana Moura: Department of Morphology and Animal Physiology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco-UFRPE, Dom Manoel de Medeiros Ave., Recife PE 52171-900, Brazil
Daniela de Araújo Viana-Marques: Laboratory of Biotechnology Applied to Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Biological Science Institute, University of Pernambuco-UPE, Rua Arnóbio Marquês, Recife PE 50100-130, Brazil
Ana Lúcia Figueiredo Porto: Department of Morphology and Animal Physiology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco-UFRPE, Dom Manoel de Medeiros Ave., Recife PE 52171-900, Brazil
Raquel Pedrosa Bezerra: Department of Morphology and Animal Physiology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco-UFRPE, Dom Manoel de Medeiros Ave., Recife PE 52171-900, Brazil
Attilio Converti: Department of Civil, Chemical and Environment Engineering, Pole of Chemical Engineering, University of Genoa (UNIGE), Via Opera Pia 15, 16145 Genoa, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 20, 1-19

Abstract: This work dealt with the study of growth parameters, pigments production, and bioenergetic aspects of the microalga Dunaliella tertiolecta in different culture media. For this purpose, cultures were carried out in Erlenmeyer flasks containing F/2 medium, Bold’s Basal medium, or an alternative medium made up of the same constituents of the Bold’s Basal medium dissolved in natural seawater instead of distilled water. D. tertiolecta reached the highest dry cell concentration ( X max = 1223 mgDM·L −1 ), specific growth rate ( µ max = 0.535 d −1 ), cell productivity ( P X = 102 mgDM·L −1 ·d −1 ), and photosynthetic efficiency ( PE = 14.54%) in the alternative medium, while the highest contents of carotenoids (52.0 mg·g −1 ) and chlorophyll (108.0 mg·g −1 ) in the biomass were obtained in Bold’s Basal medium. As for the bioenergetic parameters, the biomass yield on Gibbs energy dissipation was higher and comparable in both seawater-based media. However, the F/2 medium led to the highest values of moles of photons absorbed to produce 1 C-mol of biomass ( n Ph ), total Gibbs energy absorbed by the photosynthesis (Δ G a ) and released heat ( Q ), as well as the lowest cell concentration, thus proving to be the least suitable medium for D. tertiolecta growth. On the other hand, the highest values of molar development of O 2 and consumption of H + and H 2 O were obtained in the alternative medium, which also ensured the best kinetic parameters, thereby allowing for the best energy exploitation for cell growth. These results demonstrate that composition of culture medium for microalgae cultivation has different effects on pigments production, growth kinetics, and bioenergetics parameters, which should be taken into consideration for any use of biomass, including as raw material for biofuels production.

Keywords: cell growth; microalgae; chlorophyll; carotenoids; energetic yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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