Characteristics of Marine Microalgae as a Result of the Change in Light Quality During the Culture Period

Abstract

The recent scarcity of several marine stocks in Japan is a serious problem. Aquaculture has been increasing, but requires large amounts of marine microalgae as a food source. Therefore, this study was aimed at developing a system to mass-produce the microalgae Pavlova, using artificial light sources. Pavlova cells were grown under white, red, green, and blue fluorescent lamps. The highest cell density was obtained after 8-9 days of culture under white fluorescent lamps. The highest rate of oxygen generation by Pavlova cells was found at photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD) of 300 to 500 µmol m-2 s-1 in cultures grown under the white fluorescent lamps. Pavlova cells cultured under other cotored fluorescent lamps generated maximal oxygen rates at PPFD around 150 µmol m-2 s-1.