The Green Microalga Chlorella saccharophila as a Suitable Source of Oil for Biodiesel Production

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of the green microalga Chlorella saccharophila as a source of oil for biodiesel production. We evaluated for the first time, the effect of salinity and/or nitrogen depletion (ND) on cell growth, lipid accumulation and lipid profile in this microalga. The fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) identified for C. saccharophila in this study consisted of C-16:0, C-18:0, C-18:1 cis, and C-18:1 trans. Among these, C-18:1 (indicator of biodiesel quality) was the main FAME found, representing approximately 76 and 80% of total FAME under normal and ND growing conditions, respectively. Under a normal growing condition this microalga showed 154.63 mg l(-1) d(-1), 63.33 mg l(-1) d(-1), and 103.73 mg l(-1) of biomass productivity, lipid productivity, and FAME yield, respectively. The higher biomass productivity (159.58 mg l(-1) d(-1)), lipid productivity (99.33 mg l(-1) d(-1)), and FAME yield (315.53 mg l(-1)) were obtained under the ND treatment. In comparison to other related studies, our results suggest that C. saccharophila can be considered as a suitable source of oil for biodiesel production.

Effects of Light Exposure and Nitrogen Source on the Production of Oil from Freshwater and Marine Water Microalgae

“…Several researchers (Herrera-Valencia et al, 2011;Isleten-Hosoglu et al, 2012;Chinnasamy et al, 2010;Tan and Johns, 1991) indicated that higher oil productivities were achieved using the Chlorella saccharophila These values are higher than those obtained in this study. The differences can be attributed to the varying cultivation periods, variation in nutrient systems and the effectiveness in the oil extraction methods used.…”

In Silico Cloning and Characterization of the Glycerol-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (GPDH) Gene Family in the Green Microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

“…This response allows C. reinhardtii to tolerate certain saline concentrations (up to 200 mM NaCl) [21]. Osmotic stress by NaCl has been shown to increase lipid accumulation in some microalgae, including the marine Dunaliella tertiolecta [34], and the fresh water Botryococcus braunii [27] and Chlorella saccharophila [14]. Recently, it was shown that NaCl stress from 20 to 100 mM NaCl can also induce TAG accumulation in C. reinhardtii [32].…”

Rapid neutral lipid accumulation of the alkali-resistant oleaginous Monoraphidium dybowskii LB50 by NaCl induction

“…The effectiveness of this type of inducer mainly depends on the use of iron salt, zinc salt, and sodium salt (NaCl, NaHCO 3 , NaAC) etc. (Einicker-Lamas et al, 2002;Herrera-Valencia et al, 2011;Liu et al, 2008;Xia et al, 2013Xia et al, , 2014. However, the effects are not evident in numerous microalgae strains when iron salt and zinc salt are used for induction.…”