Production of ?-carotene with Dunaliella salina CCAP19/18 at physically simulated outdoor conditions.

ABSTRACT: Batch growth and ?-carotene production of Dunaliella salina CCAP19/18 was investigated in flat-plate gas-lift photobioreactors with a light path of 2 cm, operated in physically simulated outdoor conditions. Dunaliella salina CCAP19/18 showed robust growth with respect to pH 8.0-9.0 and 15-35°C at increasing salinity, simulating the evaporation of open photobioreactors. The highest ?-carotene concentration of 25 mg L^-1 (3 mg g_CDW ^-1) was observed in batch processes at pH 8.5, 15-30°C and increasing salinity up to 110 g L^-1, simulating a typical Mediterranean summer climate. Intracellular ?-carotene accumulation of D. salina CCAP19/18 was shown to be independent of light availability, although nutrient limitation (K₂HPO₄, MgSO₄, and/or ammonium ferric citrate) seems to enable stable ?-carotene content in the algal cells despite increasing cell densities in the photobioreactor. Fully controlled, lab-scale photobioreactors simulating typical climate conditions of any region of interest are valuable tools for enabling a realistic characterization of microalgae on a laboratory scale, for production processes projected in open photobioreactor systems (e.g. thin-layer cascade photobioreactors).

SUBMITTER: Wolf L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7923581 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature