-NH 4 NO 3 simultaneously provides a readily assimilable nitrogen source (ammonia) and a reserve of nitrogen (nitrate), allowing for an increase in Arthrospira platensis biomass production while reducing the cost of the cultivation medium. In this study, a 2 2 plus star central composite experimental design combined with response surface methodology was employed to analyze the influence of light intensity (I) and the total amount of added NH 4 NO 3 (M t ) on a bench-scale tubular photobioreactor for fed-batch cultures. The maximum cell concentration (X m ), cell productivity (P X ) and biomass yield on nitrogen (Y X/N ) were evaluated, as were the protein and lipid contents. Under optimized conditions (I = 148 µmol·photons·m -2 ·s -1 and M t = 9.7 mM NH 4 NO 3 ), X m = 4710 ±34.4 mg·L -1 , P X = 478.9 ±3.8 mg·L -1 ·d -1 and Y X/N = 15.87 ±0.13 mg·mg -1 were obtained. The best conditions for protein content in the biomass (63.2%) were not the same as those that maximized cell growth (I = 180 µmol·photons·m -2 ·s -1 and M t = 22.5 mM NH 4 NO 3 ). Based on these results, it is possible to conclude that ammonium nitrate is an interesting alternate nitrogen source for the cultivation of A. platensis in a fed-batch process and could be used for other photosynthetic microorganisms.
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