Online ISSN: 2515-8260

Biomass production evaluation of a consortium with prevalence of Anabaena sp. in fed-batch cultures with three intensities of irradiance, three levels of nitrate and pilot scaling-up.

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David Francisco Dávila Ortega1 , Mayra Cathme Romero2

Abstract

Abstract: Some cyanobacteria of the genus Anabaena produce compounds of commercial interest. This study reports the effect of the concentration of nutrients in function of sodium nitrate and ammonium nitrate at 0, 2, and 4 mM; and the irradiance at 39, 117 and 234 mol m-2 s-1 over time, on the production of biomass (measured with various methods) from a consortium of microalgae and cyanobacteria with predominant Anabaena sp. in fed batch cultures. Those were scaled up to 10 L and their biomass harvested, dried and chemically analyzed. The growth and biochemical composition of the consortium was influenced by the combination of the above factors, with statistical significance (p<0.05). The best production of pigments and biomass was generated on the combination of factors: nitrate concentration (2 mM) and Irradiance (234 mol m-2 s-1 or 12 klux). A notorious increase in the amount of biomass was produced using ammonium nitrate as a nitrogen source. The biochemical composition of the harvested biomass determined potential applications in the food and pharma industries as well as biofertilizer and soil conditioner.

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