Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of Media Composition and Culture Time on the Lipid Profile of the Green Microalga Coelastrum sp. and Its Suitability for Biofuel Production

  • Published:
BioEnergy Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The development of biofuels as an alternative to the use of fossil fuels is growing worldwide due to environmental concerns and energy independence; thus, considerable technical progress has been achieved in biofuel production. Microalgae have been widely used for nutrient removal during wastewater treatment and produce compounds that can be used as feedstock for biofuel synthesis. In this work, the green microalga Coelastrum sp. was cultivated using industrial wastes: molasses as the carbon source and synthetic wastewater as the culture medium to determine the potential of its use for biofuel production. The use of synthetic wastewater (SWW) and molasses improved biomass production when compared with cultures carried out in a standard laboratory culture medium, such as tris-acetate-phosphate (TAP). Growth rates of 0.31 and 1.4 day−1 were attained during exponential growth rate with SWW and molasses and TAP media, respectively. The best results in biomass and lipid content, 2.29 ± 0.05 and 0.71 ± 0.03 g L−1, were obtained after 15 days of culture in SWW with molasses. The analysis of the lipid profile, produced by Coelastrum sp. cultured under these conditions, determined that the microalga can be considered as a high-quality feedstock for producing green diesel, bio-jet fuel, or biodiesel.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Brännström H, Hemanathan K, Raimo A (2018) Current and potential biofuel production from plant oils. Bioenergy Res 11:592–613. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-018-9923-2

  2. Perez-García O, de-Bashan LE, Hernández JP, Bashan Y (2010) Efficiency of growth and nutrient uptake from wastewater by heterotrophic, autotrophic, and mixotrophic cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris immobilized with Azospirillum brasilense. J Phycol 46:800–812. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2010.00862.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Abreu AP, Fernandes B, Vicente AA, Teixeira J, Dragone G (2012) Mixotrophic cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris using industrial dairy waste as organic carbon source. Bioresour Technol 118:61–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.05.055

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Gaurav K, Srivastava R, Sharma JG, Singh R, Singh V (2016) Molasses-based growth and lipid production by Chlorella pyrenoidosa: a potential feedstock for biodiesel. Int J Green Energy 13(3):320–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/15435075.2014.966268

  5. Yan D, Lu Y, Chen YF, Wu Q (2011) Waste molasses alone displaces glucose-based medium for microalgal fermentation towards cost-saving biodiesel production. Bioresour Technol 102:6487–6493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.03.036

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cheng Y, Lu Y, Gao C, Wu Q (2009) Algae-based biodiesel production and optimization using sugar cane as the feedstock. Energy Fuel 23:4166–4173. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef9003818

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kang S, Fu J, Zhou N, Liu R, Peng Z, Xu Y (2018) Concentrated levulinic acid production from sugar cane molasses. Energy Fuel 32:3526–3531. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b03987

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Teclu D, Tivchev G, Laing M, Wallis M (2009) Determination of the elemental composition of molasses and its suitability as carbon source for growth of sulphate-reducing bacteria. J Hazard Mater 161:1157–1165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.04.120

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Kim KH, Lee HY, Lee CY (2015) Pretreatment of sugarcane molasses and citric acid production by Candida zeylanoides. Microbiol Biotechnol Lett 43:164–168. https://doi.org/10.4014/mbl.1503.03006

  10. CONADESUCA (2016) Melazas de caña de azúcar y su uso en la fabricación de dietas para ganado. https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/171888/Nota_Informativa_Noviembre_Melazas.pdf. Accessed 28 May 2019

  11. Isleten-Hosoglu M, Gultepe I, Elibol M (2012) Optimization of carbon and nitrogen sources for biomass and lipid production by Chlorella saccharophila under heterotrophic conditions and development of Nile red fluorescence based method for quantification of its neutral lipid content. Biochem Eng J 61:11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2011.12.001

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Liu J, Huang J, Jiang Y, Chen F (2012) Molasses-based growth and production of oil and astaxanthin by Chlorella zofingiensis. Bioresour Technol 107:393–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.12.047

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Cai T, Park SY, Li Y (2013) Nutrient recovery from wastewater streams by microalgae: status and prospects. Renew Sust Energ Rev 19:360–369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.11.030

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Mousavi S, Najafpour GD, Mohammadi M, Seifi MH (2018) Cultivation of newly isolated microalgae Coelastrum sp. in wastewater for simultaneous CO2 fixation, lipid production and wastewater treatment. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 41:519–530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-017-1887-7

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Úbeda B, Gálvez JA, Michel M, Bartual A (2017) Microalgae cultivation in urban wastewater: Coelastrum cf. pseudomicroporum as a novel carotenoid source and a potential microalgae harvesting tool. Bioresour Technol 228:210–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.095

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Liu Z, Liu C, Hou Y, Chen S, Xiao D, Zhang J, Chen F (2013) Isolation and characterization of a marine microalga for biofuel production with Astaxanthin as a co-product. Energies 6:2759–2772. https://doi.org/10.3390/en6062759

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Minillo A, Godoy HC, Fonseca GG (2013) Growth performance of microalgae exposed to CO2. J Clean Energy Technol 1:110–114. https://doi.org/10.7763/JOCET.2013.V1.26

  18. Hirose M, Mukaida F, Okada S, Noguchi T (2013) Active hydrocarbon biosynthesis and accumulation in a green alga Botryococcus braunii (race A). Eukaryot Cell 12:1132–1141. https://doi.org/10.1128/EC.00088-13

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Herrera-Valencia VA, Us-Vázquez RA, Larqué-Saavedra FA, Barahona-Pérez LF (2012) Naturally occurring fatty acid methyl esters and ethyl esters in the green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Ann Microbiol 62:865–870. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-011-0361-z

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Santhakumaran P, Kookal S, Mathew L, Ray JG (2019) Bioprospecting of three rapid-growing freshwater green algae. Bioresour Technol 12:680–693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-019-09990-9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Valdez-Ojeda R, González-Muñoz M, Us-Vázquez R, Narváez-Zapata J, Chavarria-Hernandez JC, López-Adrián S, Barahona-Pérez F, Toledano-Thompson T, Garduño-Solórzano G, Escobedo-Gracia Medrano RM (2015) Characterization of five fresh water microalgae with potential for biodiesel production. Algal Res 7:33–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2014.11.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Nanduca HE (2015) Utilización de aguamiel de café y melaza en agua residual sintética en el cultivo de la microalga Scenedesmus sp para la producción de lípidos. M. Sc. Dissertation, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Mexico

  23. Harris EH (1989) The Chlamydomonas sourcebook, a comprehensive guide to biology and laboratory use. Academic, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  24. Gorman DS, Levine RP (1965) Cytochrome f and plastocyanin: their sequence in the photosynthetic electron transport chain of Chlamydomonas reinhardii. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 54:1665–1669. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.54.6.1665

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Azianabiha AHK, Zahira Y, Siti RSA, Mohd ST (2016) Enhanced growth and nutrients removal efficiency of Characium sp. cultured in agricultural wastewater via acclimatized inoculum and effluent recycling. J Environ Chem Eng 4:3426–3432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2016.07.020

  26. Bligh EG, Dyer WJ (1959) A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol 37:911–917. https://doi.org/10.1139/o59-099

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Widjaja A, Chien CC, Hu YH (2009) Study of increasing lipid production from fresh water microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. J Taiwan Inst Chem Eng 40:13–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2008.07.007

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Pratas MJ, Freitas S, Oliveira MB, Monteiro SC, Lima AS, Coutinho JA (2010) Densities and viscosities of fatty acid methyl and ethyl esters. J Chem Eng Data 55:3983–3990. https://doi.org/10.1021/je1012235

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Ramírez-Verduzco LF (2013) Density and viscosity of biodiesel as a function of temperature: empirical models. Renew Sust Energ Rev 19:652–665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.11.022

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Ramírez-Verduzco LF, Rodríguez-Rodríguez JE, del Rayo J-JA (2012) Predicting cetane number, kinematic viscosity, density and higher heating value of biodiesel from its fatty acid methyl ester composition. Fuel 91:102–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2011.06.070

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Knothe G (2002) Structure indices in FA chemistry. How relevant is the iodine value? J Am Oil Chem Soc 79:847–854. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-002-0569-4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Knothe G, Steidley KR (2005) Kinematic viscosity of biodiesel fuel components and related compounds. Influence of compound structure and comparison to petrodiesel fuel components. Fuel 84:1059–1065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2005.01.016

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Pratas MJ, Freitas S, Oliveira MB, Monteiro SC, Lima ÁS, Coutinho JA (2011) Densities and viscosities of minority fatty acid methyl and ethyl esters present in biodiesel. J Chem Eng Data 56:2175–2180. https://doi.org/10.1021/je1012235

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Freedman B, Bagby MO (1989) Heats of combustion of fatty esters and triglycerides. J Am Oil Chem Soc 66:1601–1605. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02636185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Mishra S, Anand K, Mehta PS (2016) Predicting the cetane number of biodiesel fuels from their fatty acid methyl ester composition. Energy Fuel 30:10425–10434. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b01343

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Serrano M, Oliveros R, Sánchez M, Moraschini A, Martínez M, Aracil J (2014) Influence of blending vegetable oil methyl esters on biodiesel fuel properties: oxidative stability and cold flow properties. Energy 65:109–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.11.072

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Park JY, Kim DK, Lee JP, Park SC, Kim YJ, Lee JS (2008) Blending effects of biodiesels on oxidation stability and low temperature flow properties. Bioresour Technol 99:1196–1203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2007.02.017

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Zhan J, HongY HH (2016) Effects of nitrogen sources and C/N ratios on the lipid-producing potential of Chlorella sp. HQ. J Microbiol Biotechnol 26:1290–1302. https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1512.12074

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Gao F, Yang H-L, Li C, Peng Y-Y, Lu M-M, Jin W-H, Bao J-J, Guo Y-M (2019) Effect of organic carbon to nitrogen ratio in wastewater on growth, nutrient uptake and lipid accumulation of a mixotrophic microalgae Chlorella sp. Bioresour Technol 282:118–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.011

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Chen F, Johns MR (1991) Effect of C/N ratio and aeration on the fatty acid composition of heterotrophic Chlorella sorokiniana. J Appl Phycol 3:203–209. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00003578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Perez-García O, Bashan Y, Puente ME (2011) Organic carbon supplementation of sterilized municipal wastewater is essential for heterotrophic growth and removing ammonium by the microalga Chlorella vulgaris. J Phycol 47:190–199. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2010.00934.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Rai MP, Gupta S (2017) Effect of media composition and light supply on biomass, lipid content and FAME profile for quality biofuel production from Scenedesmus abundans. Energy Convers Manag 141:85–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.05.018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Griffiths MJ, van Hille RP, Harrison STL (2014) The effect of degree and timing of nitrogen limitation on lipid productivity in Chlorella vulgaris. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98:6147–6159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-5757-9

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. El-Sheekh MM, Bedaiwy MY, Osman ME, Ismail MM (2014) Influence of molasses on growth, biochemical composition and ethanol production of the green algae Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus obliquus. Journal of Agricultural Engineering and Biotechnology 2:20–28. https://doi.org/10.18005/JAEB0202002

  45. Figueroa GM, Pittman JK, Theodoropoulos C (2017) Kinetic modelling of starch and lipid formation during mixotrophic, nutrient-limited microalgal growth. Bioresour Technol 241:868–878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.177

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Gifuni I, Olivieri G, Pollio A, Marzocchella A (2018) Identification of an industrial microalgal strain for starch production in biorefinery context: the effect of nitrogen and carbon concentration on starch accumulation. New Biotechnol 41:46–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2017.12.003

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Yao LX, Gerde JA, Lee SL, Wang T, Harrata KA (2015) Microalgae lipid characterization. J Agric Food Chem 63:1773–1787. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf5050603

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Frassanito R, Cantonati M, Tardio M, Mancini I, Guella G (2005) On-line identification of secondary metabolites in freshwater microalgae and cyanobacteria by combined liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection-mass spectrometric techniques. J Chromatogr A 1082:33–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2005.02.066

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Meng X, Pan Q, Ding Y, Jiang L (2014) Rapid determination of phospholipid content of vegetable oils by FTIR spectroscopy combined with partial least-square regression. Food Chem 147:272–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.09.143

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Linstrom PJ, Mallard WG (2018) NIST chemistry webbook, NIST Standard Reference Database Number 69. https://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/. Accessed 28 May 2019

  51. Taylor RJ, Petty RH (1994) Selective hydroisomerization of long chain normal paraffins. Appl Catal A Gen 119:121–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/0926-860X(94)85029-1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Calemma V, Peratello S, Perego C (2000) Hydroisomerization and hydrocracking of long chain n-alkanes on Pt/amorphous SiO2-Al2O3 catalyst. Appl Catal A Gen 190:207–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0926-860X(99)00292-6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. López-Rosales AR, Ancona-Canché K, Chavarria-Hernandez JC, Barahona-Pérez F, Toledano-Thompson T, Garduño-Solórzano G, López-Adrian S, Canto-Canché B, Polanco-Lugo E, Valdez-Ojeda R (2019) Fatty acids, hydrocarbons and terpenes of Nannochloropsis and Nannochloris isolates with potential for biofuel production. Energies 12:130. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12010130

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Wang WC, Tao L (2016) Bio-jet fuel conversion technologies. Renew Sust Energ Rev 53:801–822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.058

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the ASA-CONACYT financial support Grant No. 243145 for this project and CONACYT for María Guadalupe del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez scholarship No. 338220.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán AC, Calle 43 No. 130 x 32 y 34 Colonia Chuburná de Hidalgo., 97205, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Ruby Alejandra Valdez-Ojeda, Maria Guadalupe del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez, Tanit Toledano-Thompson, Juan Carlos Chavarría-Hernández & Luis Felipe Barahona-Pérez

Authors
  1. Ruby Alejandra Valdez-Ojeda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Guadalupe del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tanit Toledano-Thompson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Juan Carlos Chavarría-Hernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Luis Felipe Barahona-Pérez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luis Felipe Barahona-Pérez.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Glossary

ASTM

American Society of Testing Materials

BD

Biodiesel

BJ

Bio-jet fuel

EN

European Standards

E-T

Esterification + transesterification

FAME

Fatty acid methyl ester

FFA

Free fatty acids

FT-IR

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

GD

Green diesel

H

High quality

H/C

Hydrogen to oxygen atomic ratio

HC

Hydrocarbons

HC

Hydrocracking

HEFA

Hydrotreatment process for obtaining bio-jet fuel and green diesel

HI

Hydroisomerization

M

Medium quality

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NMX

Official Mexican Norm

PQ

Potential quality as product or feedstock

TLC

Thin layer chromatography

TG

Triglycerides

SWW

Synthetic wastewater

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Valdez-Ojeda, R.A., del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez, M.G., Toledano-Thompson, T. et al. Effect of Media Composition and Culture Time on the Lipid Profile of the Green Microalga Coelastrum sp. and Its Suitability for Biofuel Production. Bioenerg. Res. 14, 241–253 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10160-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10160-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation