Detoxification of ammonium to Nannochloropsis oculata and enhancement of lipid production by mixotrophic growth with acetate

Abstract

In this study, the toxicity of ammonium was removed in the microalga Nannochloropsis oculata by using acetate as a carbon source. Algal biomass and lipid production were significantly enhanced when N. oculata was grew on 0.5–50mM of ammonium and 16–64mM of acetate in mixotrophic conditions. When grown mixotrophically on 1mM of ammonium and 32mM of acetate, the biomass and lipid production reached 543mg/L and 279mg/L respectively, which were 1.5 and 9.4times higher than the levels generated when grown autotrophically on nitrate. This suggests that mixotrophic growth with acetate can be a useful method to enhance microalgal lipid production.