High Density Culture of Porphyridium cruentum in a 42 L Internal Airlift Loop Photobioreactor

1 INTRODUCTION Porphyridium cruentum is a kind of unicellular microalgae, which can live widely in freshwater, marine, brackish, and soil environment[1]. Great attention has been paid to its potential economic value such as the high content of essential high unsaturated fatty acids, especially arachidonic acid (AA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (ca 50% in the total fatty acids), ploysaccharides, and synthetic pigments, especially phycoerythrin (PE)[2,3]. During cultivation, the cells…     

Eicosapentaenoic acid (20∶5n-3) from the marine microalgaPhaeodactylum tricornutum

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20∶5n-3) was obtained from the marine microalgaePhaeodactylum tricornutum by a three-step process: fatty acid extraction by direct saponification of biomass, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentration by formation of urea inclusion compounds, and EPA isolation by semipreparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Alternatively, EPA was obtained by a similar two-step process without the PUFA concentration step by the urea method. Direct saponification of biomass was carried out with two solvents that contained KOH for lipid saponification. An increase in yield was obtained because the problems associated with emulsion formation were avoided by separating the biomass from the soap solution before adding hexane for extraction of insaponifiables. The most efficient solvent, ethanol (96%) at 60°C for 1 h, extracted 98.3% of EPA. PUFA were concentrated by the urea method with a urea/fatty acid ratio of 4∶1 at a crystallization temperature of 28°C and by using methanol and ethanol as urea solvents. An EPA concentration ratio of 1.73 (55.2∶31.9) and a recover yield of 78.6% were obtained with methanol as the urea solvent. This PUFA concentrate was used to obtain 93.4% pure EPA by semipreparative HPLC with a reverse-phase, C₁₈, 10 mm i.d.×25-cm column and methanol/water (1% acetic acid), 80∶20 w/w, as the mobile phase. Eighty-five percent of EPA loaded was recovered, and 65.7% of EPA present inP. tricornutum biomass was recovered in highly pure form by this three-step downstream process. Alternatively, 93.6% pure EPA was isolated from the fatty acid extract (without the PUFA concentration step) with 100% EPA recovery yield. This two-step process increases the overall EPA yield to 98.3%, but it is only possible to obtain 20% as much EPA as that obtained by three-step downstream processing.     

基于微藻培养的沼液处理相关耦合技术进展

基于微藻培养的沼液处理相关耦合技术是近些年沼液资源化处理利用领域的研究热点。本文综述了沼液处理与CO₂固定耦合技术、沼液处理与高值生物质生产耦合技术、沼液处理与生态农业耦合技术等耦合技术的研究发展现状与优缺点，并指出了各耦合技术发展的关键问题，如沼液处理与CO₂固定耦合技术中高CO₂耐受性藻株选育与固碳影响机理研究问题、沼液处理与高值生物质生产耦合技术中低成本、低能耗高值生物质生产技术开发问题、沼液处理与生态农业耦合技术系统性评价体系缺乏问题等。最后，为促进耦合技术突破现有瓶颈，从微藻选育、微藻培养、沼液处理与沼气工程综合经济性4个角度提出相关的建议。     

微藻热解特性及其动力学分析

通过热重分析手段研究了杜氏盐藻在室温至900℃下的热解行为和特性,采用高纯氮气作保护气,升温速率分别为5℃/min、10℃/min、20℃/min和40℃/min.TG、DTG曲线的分析表明,热解过程随温度升高经历3个不同阶段.此外,随着升温速率增大,热解的初始温度和峰值温度均增大,且总失重增加.采用等转化速率法和主曲线法对盐藻热解过程进行动力学分析.结果表明,表观热解反应遵循单一动力学机理模型,反应动力学过程为简单级数反应机理模型Fn.求得热解反应表观平均活化能Ea为146.3 kJ/mol,指前因子A为4.28×1013s-1,指数n为2.4.     

Production of bioactive proteins and peptides from the diatom Nitzschia laevis and comparison of their in vitro antioxidant activities with those from Spirulina platensis and Chlorella vulgaris

This research focuses on green production of bioactive proteins and hydrolysates from Nitzschia. A comparison of antioxidant activities was established between protein extracts and hydrolysates from Nitzschia and two other well‐known microalgae, chlorella and spirulina. Protein hydrolysates from these microalgae were produced using Alcalase^®, Flavourzyme^® and Trypsin. The hydrolysis process enhanced the antioxidant activities in general, especially those obtained using Alcalase^®. Nitzschia showed the highest (P < 0.05) total phenolic content/reducing capacity (2.4 ± 0.02 mg GAE/100 g) after 90 min of hydrolysis with Alcalase^®. The ABTS [2,2′‐Azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulphonic acid)] radical scavenging activity (66.77 ± 0.00%) was highest (P < 0.05) after 120 min of hydrolysis, but DPPH (2,2‐Diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical) was low (29.59 ± 0.02%). A correlation between ABTS activity and total phenolic contents was the highest (P < 0.05) for protein hydrolysates from all three organisms using Alcalase^®, but superoxide anion radical scavenging activity was intermediate for Nitzschia. Therefore, Nitzschia protein hydrolysates have the potential to be used as antioxidants.     

Recent Advances in Microalgal Bioactives for Food,Feed, and Healthcare Products: Commercial Potential,Market Space,and Sustainability

To combat food scarcity as well as to ensure nutritional food supply for sustainable living of increasing population, microalgae are considered as innovative sources for adequate nutrition. Currently, the dried biomass, various carotenoids, phycocyanin, phycoerythrin, omega fatty acids, and enzymes are being used as food additives, food coloring agents, and food supplements. Apart from nutritional importance, microalgae are finding the place in the market as “functional foods.” When compared to the total market size of food and feed products derived from all the possible sources, the market portfolio of microalgae‐based products is still smaller, but increasing steadily. On the other hand, the genetic modification of microalgae for enhanced production of commercially important metabolites holds a great potential. However, the success of commercial application of genetically modified (GM) algae will be defined by their safety to human health and environment. In view of this, the present study attempts to highlight the industrially important microalgal metabolites, their production, and application in food, feed, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmeceuticals. The current and future market trends for microalgal products have been thoroughly discussed. Importantly, the safety pertaining to microalgae cultivation and consumption, and regulatory issues for GM microalgae have also been covered.     

Inhibitory effect of chloroform on fermentative hydrogen and methane production from lipid-extracted microalgae

To improve the sustainability of microalgae as a bioenergy feedstock, lipid-extracted microalgae (LEM) are often further treated by anaerobic digestion (AD). However, the residual chloroform used for extracting lipids as a solvent could inhibit this process, an aspect that has not been studied to date. In this study, the inhibitory effect of chloroform on H₂ and CH₄ production was investigated by performing batch tests. To prepare the feedstock, Chlorella vulgaris was ultrasonicated and the supernatant was discarded after centrifugation. In case of H₂ production, it was found that the H₂ yield fell to almost half that of the control (15.6 mL H₂/g COD_added) at 100 mg CHCl₃/L. The reason for the decrease of the H₂ yield with the increase of chloroform level was due to the change of metabolites from acetate and butyrate to lactate via a non-hydrogenic reaction. In comparison with H₂ production, a much more severe inhibitory effect of chloroform on CH₄ production was observed. The inhibitor concentration (IC_{30, 60, and 90}) on H₂ production was 138, 319, and 622 mg CHCl₃/L, respectively, while concentrations of 15, 37, and 86 mg CHCl₃/L were obtained on CH₄ production. When the chloroform concentration was ≥25 mg/L on CH₄ production, more than 2 g COD/L of organic acids remained, resulting in a decrease of CH₄ yield. These findings indicate that the residual chloroform in LEM should be seriously considered to prevent possible microbial inhibition when designing a process for additional energy recovery from microalgae via AD.     

Sequestration of CO2 using microorganisms and evaluation of their potential to synthesize biomolecules

ABSTRACT

Microalgae are the unicellular or multicellular photosynthetic microorganisms that can efficiently fix carbon dioxide (CO₂) from various sources such as the environment, industrial flue gas, and some carbonate salts. In the present study, one green microalgal strain and a cyanobacterial consortium were used separately for the sequestration of CO₂ at different pHs (7–11), at different initial concentrations of CO₂ (5–20%), and at various inoculum sizes (5–12.5%). The maximum sequestration of CO₂ was found to be 74.37 ± 0.49% and 71.12 ± 0.05% at 5% and 15% CO₂ for green algae and cyanobacterial consortium. The biomass generated after sequestration of CO₂ was utilized for the synthesis of biomolecules.     

Two Mychonastes isolated from freshwater bodies are novel potential feedstocks for biodiesel production

Microalgae have been considered as ideal feedstocks for biodiesel production but the potential application is still under investigations. Here, eight kinds of microalgae were identified from water samples based on the morphologic and phylogenetic analyses. Among these eight microalgae, two Mychonastes S4 and S15 exhibited relative faster growth rate in the early culture stage and the highest contents of lipids. The two Mychonastes also showed higher C18:1 contents than the two Chlorella which were traditionally considered to be potential species for biodiesel production. As one kind of less researched microalgae, this study suggests Mychonastes should be a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. The application of the microalgal biodiesel still have some limiting factors, however, it is promising based on better lipid extraction technology and more relevant studies.