Central composite design for simultaneously optimizing biomass and lutein production by a mixotrophic Chlorella sorokiniana TH01

Abstract

Central composite design (CCD) was adopted to statistically model algal biomass and lutein production by the Chlorolla sorokiniana TH01 strain on four variables of light intensity, sodium acetate, N/P ratio and CO2 in the mixotrophic mode. Results revealed that the biomass and lutein response surface models had high correlation coefficients (i.e., 98.8% and 98.2%) with the actual data. Moreover, data obtained from confirmatory experiments showed that the biomass and lutein content can be respectively reached maximum of 26.97 g/L and 8.47 mg/g under different optimal conditions. However, practical production could simultaneously achieve high levels of biomass of 26.21 g/L and lutein of 5.01 mg/g under the optimal light intensity of 75 µmol/(m2·s), sodium acetate of 10 g/L, N/P of 35 and CO2 of 2%. The C. sorokiniana TH01 strain was superior to other strains in both biomass and lutein production, demonstrating highly promising for commercial production of lutein.