Effects of Four Organic Carbon Sources on the Growth and Astaxanthin Accumulation of Haematococcus lacustris

Abstract

The microalga Haematococcus lacustris has a complex life cycle and a slow growth rate, hampering its mass cultivation. Culture of microalgae with organic carbon sources can increase the growth rate. Few studies have evaluated the effects of organic carbon sources on H. lacustris. We compared the vegetative and inductive stages of H. lacustris under autotrophic and mixotrophic conditions using four organic carbon sources: sodium acetate, glycerol, sodium gluconate, and ribose, each at various concentrations (0.325, 0.65, 1.3, and 2.6 g/L). The cell density was increased by 1.3 g/L of glycerol in the vegetative stage. The rapid transition to the inductive stage under nitrogen-depletion conditions caused by 1.3 or 2.6 g/L sodium acetate promoted the accumulation of astaxanthin. The production of astaxanthin by H. lacustris in mass culture using organic carbon sources could increase profitability.

A Study on the Effect of Various Media and the Supplementation of Organic Compounds on the Enhanced Production of Astaxanthin from Haematococcus lacustris (Girod—Chantrans) Rostafinski (Chlorophyta)

“…Six different media were prepared with and without a nitrogen source for the experiment, as described in the cited references: JM [ 5 ], Walne/Conway [ 31 ], Optimal Haematococcus Medium (OHM) [ 32 ], Blue Green-11 (BG-11) [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ], modified Chu-13 [ 37 ], and Bold’s Basal Medium (BBM) [ 38 ].…”

“…A haemocytometer with an improved Neubauer chamber (Marienfeld Superior, Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany) and a light microscope with a 20× objective lens (BX53; Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) were used to estimate the cell number. The analysis of astaxanthin was performed according to the methods described in previous studies [ 5 , 6 ].…”

“…The large-scale production of astaxanthin from yeasts, fungi, bacteria, shrimp, fish, and so forth is not feasible because of their lower astaxanthin contents (less than 1% of dry weight) [ 4 ]. Among microalgae, edible astaxanthin is mainly produced by Haematococcus lacustris , Halochlorella rubescens, Rhexinema sarcinoideum, Chromochloris zofingiensis , and Ettlia carotinosa [ 5 ]. Haematococcus lacustris is an important microalga in terms of its astaxanthin production, biomass, and lipid production, which can be utilized for commercial purposes.…”

“…The addition of organic carbon sources to phototrophic growth cultures influences photosynthesis and carbon metabolism in H. lacustris [ 12 ]. In a recent study, we evaluated the effects of four organic carbon sources: ribose, glycerol, sodium acetate, and sodium gluconate [ 5 ]. Astaxanthin accumulation is enhanced in H. lacustris by supplementation with glycerol [ 13 ], sodium fumarate [ 14 ], trisodium citrate [ 15 ], and oxaloacetate [ 16 ] under various conditions.…”

Improved Production of Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis Using a Hybrid Open–Closed Cultivation System

“…The preparation of JM was performed according to our previous research [39]. For the nitrogen-depletion condition experiments, nitrogen sources Ca(NO 3 ) 2 •4H 2 O and NaNO 3 were removed from the JM medium under laboratory conditions.…”