Growth, Lipid, and Pigment Properties of Locally Isolated (Kastamonu, Türkiye) Chlorella sp.

Abstract

Chlorella has become one of the most studied and produced microalgae, with Spirulina among the hundreds of species since the beginning of microalgal biotechnology. The growth performance of microalgae and the biochemical composition of the biomass may also vary significantly by strain. Therefore, it is thought that searching for new strains from aquatic environments is important in providing the most suitable microalgae for production. An isolated strain from Daday Stream was cultured in the laboratory at Kastamonu University. BG-11 was used as a medium, and CO2 from the air was used as a carbon source in the experiments. The initial cell number was arranged to 1.0×106 cells mL-1, and the highest cell number was found on the 17th day as 40.52×106 cells mL-1. Chlorophyll a and carotenoids were determined at the end of the experiment and were found as 3.48±0.08 µg mL-1 and 1.16±0.02 µg mL-1, respectively. Total lipid amount and fatty acid composition analysis were also conducted at the end of the study. According to the analyses, the lipid content of Chlorella sp. was found to be 15.37±0.00% (w/w). ∑SFA (saturated fatty acid), ∑MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acid), and ∑PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acid) ratios were calculated to be 31.30±1.21%, 4.99±0.34% and 63.71±2.65%, respectively.