Abstract
The biotechnological potential of microalgae has gained considerable importance in many applied fields: biomass production for food and feed, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical products, energy and phytoremediation. The driving force that inspires the progress in microalgae production is the need for new cultivation systems to obtain simultaneously the maximum yield, reduction of water and nutrients use, and production of economically interesting molecules, such as pigments, fatty acids and polysaccharides. We aim to test, for the first time, the co-cultivation in saline medium of Tisochrysis lutea (Haptophyta) and Nannochloropsis oculata (Ochrophyta) to obtain valuable compounds, i.e. pigments and lipids characteristic of each species, using a single culture process. Mono-cultures of each strain were used as controls. The two strains showed an increase in the concentration of chlorophylls and carotenoids in co-culture. At the end of the experiment, the fatty acid profile was analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The lipids in the co-cultivated cell extracts were mainly attributable to N. oculata, which represented 97% of the total cells (ca. 83% of the total biomass) at the end of the experiment. Nevertheless, the ω-3 characteristic of T. lutea (DHA and SDA, absent in N. oculata) was also detectable. Although the co-cultivation of these two phylogenetically different species of microalgae did not show positive effects on the growth and on the total lipid production, however, this process resulted in a reduction of the production costs and a lower consumption of water and nutrients.
Highlights
In recent decades, the biotechnological potential of microalgae has gained considerable importance because of their wide application range: production of biomass for food and feed, synthesis of high-value compounds for cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors, employment in renewable green-energy and in phytoremediation systems (Sabia et al 2015; D'Amato et al 2017; Rizwan et al 2018; Alam et al 2020)
The aim of this research is focused to ascertain if the co-cultivation of N. oculata and T. lutea could allow the production of highvalue molecules, in particular ω-3 fatty acids, for obtaining in a single cultivation system a microalgal biomass rich in all ω3 fatty acids typical of fish oil and fishmeal
In both systems of cultivation, N. oculata cells remained in the logarithmic phase of growth up to the tenth day, the cells entered the stationary phase
Summary
The biotechnological potential of microalgae has gained considerable importance because of their wide application range: production of biomass for food and feed, synthesis of high-value compounds (e.g. polyunsaturated fatty acids, pigments, polysaccharides) for cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors, employment in renewable green-energy and in phytoremediation systems (Sabia et al 2015; D'Amato et al 2017; Rizwan et al 2018; Alam et al 2020). In co-cultivation, two or more different microorganisms are grown together; this cultivation mode can involve different microalgal species or microalgae and other microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria (Zhu et al 2017) With this perspective, the main purpose of this study was to test a co-cultivation strategy in saline medium of the algae Nannochloropsis oculata (Ocrophyta) and Tisochrysis lutea (Haptophyta), species interesting for their composition in pigments and fatty acids (Ryckebosch et al 2014; Cavalier-Smith et al 2018). Natural pigments are used as additives and colourants in aquaculture, and in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries (Alam et al 2020); their demand is increasing over the years In this context, microalgae are a valuable solution, considering that they contain a different pattern of pigments, and of lipids and other valuable molecules (e.g. polysaccharides), in relation to their phylogenetic position (Barsanti and Gualtieri 2014; Begum et al 2016). The co-cultivation represents an added value in the perspective of reducing (in this case, halving) water consumption for algae cultivation
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