Chapter 4 - Mixotrophic Cultivation: Biomass and Biochemical Biosynthesis for Biofuel Production

Abstract

Cultivation of microalgal is one of the important processes in biofuel production from microalgal biomass. In this process, different cultivation approaches are analyzed to ensure the most suitable condition for maximum biomass production prior to subsequent processes. To date, several approaches such as autotrophic, heterotrophic, and mixotrophic cultivation modes have been introduced to be applied for microalgal biomass production. Mixotrophic cultivation has gained great attention because this approach exhibits more advantages over other cultivation systems. In the mixotrophic condition, inorganic and organic carbons have simultaneously been utilized by microalgal for biomass and biochemical production. Utilization of both inorganic and organic carbon together in the cultivation process, in turn, could significantly reduce carbon and material cost. In this chapter, mixotrophic cultivation for biofuel production is reviewed. The advantages of mixotrophic cultivation for biomass and biochemical synthesis are discussed. Influence of cultivation parameters during mixotrophic cultivation toward microalgal biomass and biochemical synthesis is also presented. Also, the cultivation modes such as fed-batch and two-stage system to enhance biomass production in mixotrophic microalgal cultivation are discussed at the end of this chapter.