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

Lara Wolf, Thomas Cummings, Katharina Müller, Manfred Reppke, Marianne Volkmar, Dirk Weuster-Botz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Batch growth and β-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 β-carotene concentration of 25 mg L-1 (3 mg gCDW−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 β-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 β-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).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)115-125
Number of pages11
JournalEngineering in Life Sciences
Volume21
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2021

Keywords

  • Dunaliella salina
  • increasing salinity
  • outdoor conditions
  • photobioreactor
  • ß-carotene

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