Continuous cultivation of Dunaliella salina in photobioreactor for the production of β-carotene

A helix tube photobioreactor with a volume of 10 L was designed and manufactured. The facade of the reactor was designed as three-layer frame. The illumination helixes units were 16, illumination area volume was 1.5 L, illuminate specific area was 95 m−1. A marine micro-alga Dunaliella salina was used as a model organism in this study. Results showed that the optimum inoculum concentration was OD630 = 0.15 and the optimum circulation rate of culture fluid was 630 mL/h for the bioreactor. In continuous cultivation, in order to determine the optimum collection of alga solution for the highest yield of β-carotene, three different alga solution collection and addition fresh culture medium volumes were applied: 0.8, 1.5, 2.0 L/day. The biomass and extraction of β-carotene were determined in different cultivation periods. The result suggested that the optimum daily harvest of alga solution was 1.5 L/day for the cultivation of D. salina to obtain the highest production of β-carotene.

[1]  Katsuda,et al.  Light intensity distribution in the externally illuminated cylindrical photo-bioreactor and its application to hydrogen production by Rhodobacter capsulatus. , 2000, Biochemical engineering journal.

[2]  H. J. G. ten Hoopen,et al.  Effects of hydrodynamic stress on the growth of plant cells in batch and continuous culture , 1994 .

[3]  M. Borowitzka.  Commercial production of microalgae: ponds, tanks, tubes and fermenters , 1999 .

[4]  Yuan-Kun Lee.  Microalgal mass culture systems and methods: Their limitation and potential , 2001, Journal of Applied Phycology.

[5]  J. A. Campo,et al.  Outdoor cultivation of microalgae for carotenoid production: current state and perspectives , 2007, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[6]  Arsène Isambert,et al.  Modelling of a continuous pilot photobioreactor for microalgae production , 1999 .

[7]  J. Tramper,et al.  Effect of mixing rate on β‐carotene production and extraction by dunaliella salina in two‐phase bioreactors , 2003, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[8]  Otto Pulz,et al.  Photobioreactors: Design and performance with respect to light energy input , 1998 .

[9]  F. Malcata,et al.  On‐Line Determination of Biomass in a Microalga Bioreactor Using a Novel Computerized Flow Injection Analysis System , 2002, Biotechnology progress.

[10]  Hideo Tanaka,et al.  Light supply coefficient: A new engineering parameter for photobioreactor design , 1995 .

[11]  Ami Ben-Amotz,et al.  New mode of Dunaliella biotechnology: two-phase growth for β-carotene production , 1995, Journal of Applied Phycology.

[12]  M. Hejazi,et al.  Effect of light intensity on beta-carotene production and extraction by Dunaliella salina in two-phase bioreactors. , 2003, Biomolecular engineering.

[13]  A. Tsygankov,et al.  Laboratory Scale Photobioreactors , 2001, Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology.

[14]  A. Prieto,et al.  Conditions for open-air outdoor culture of Dunaliella salina in southern Spain , 2003, Journal of Applied Phycology.

[15]  Fumio Shirai,et al.  Cultivation of microalgae in the solution from the desalting process of soy sauce waste treatment and utilization of the algal biomass for ethanol fermentation , 1998 .

[16]  Qiang Hu,et al.  Handbook of microalgal culture , 2003 .

[17]  Mario R. Tredici,et al.  Mass production of microalgae: photobioreactors , 2007 .

[18]  Jian Li,et al.  Online estimation of stirred-tank microalgal photobioreactor cultures based on dissolved oxygen measurement , 2003 .

[19]  R. Morais,et al.  Production of a carotenoid-rich product by alginate entrapment and fluid-bed drying of Dunaliella salina , 1998 .

[20]  J. Sevilla,et al.  Modeling of biomass productivity in tubular photobioreactors for microalgal cultures: effects of dilution rate, tube diameter, and solar irradiance , 1998, Biotechnology and bioengineering.