Lipid Production of Heterotrophic Chlorella sp. from Hydrolysate Mixtures of Lipid-Extracted Microalgal Biomass Residues and Molasses

Hongli Zheng, Xiaochen Ma, Zhen Gao, Yiqin Wan, Min Min, Wenguang Zhou, Yun Li, Yuhuan Liu, He Huang, Paul Chen, Roger Ruan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study investigated the feasibility of lipid production of Chlorella sp. from waste materials. Lipid-extracted microalgal biomass residues (LMBRs) and molasses were hydrolyzed, and their hydrolysates were analyzed. Five different hydrolysate mixture ratios (w/w) of LMBRs/molasses (1/0, 1/1, 1/4, 1/9, and 0/1) were used to cultivate Chlorella sp. The results showed that carbohydrate and protein were the two main compounds in the LMBRs, and carbohydrate was the main compound in the molasses. The highest biomass concentration of 5.58 g/L, Ybiomass/sugars of 0.59 g/g, lipid productivity of 335 mg/L/day, and Ylipids/sugars of 0.25 g/g were obtained at the hydrolysate mixture ratio of LMBRs/molasses of 1/4. High C/N ratio promoted the conversion of sugars into lipids. The lipids extracted from Chlorella sp. shared similar lipid profile of soybean oil and is therefore a potential viable biodiesel feedstock. These results showed that Chlorella sp. can utilize mixed sugars and amino acids from LMBRs and molasses to accumulate lipids efficiently, thus reducing the cost of microalgal biodiesel production and improving its economic viability.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)662-674
Number of pages13
JournalApplied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Volume177
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 30 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Keywords

  • Biodiesel
  • Heterotrophy
  • Lipid-extracted microalgal biomass residues
  • Microalga
  • Molasses

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Lipid Production of Heterotrophic Chlorella sp. from Hydrolysate Mixtures of Lipid-Extracted Microalgal Biomass Residues and Molasses'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this