Abstract
Spirulina platensis is an attractive human food supplement, animals feed and of numerous medicinal uses. The effect of physico-chemical factors on the physiological growth rates as optical densities (O.D.) of S. platensis strain (UTEXLB2340) were investigated. Experiments were conducted at different pH levels, light intensities, and temperature regimes, and monitored for 20 days. The half concentration of Zarrouk media was found to be suitable for cultivation of this strain under indoor (1.14 O.D.) and outdoor conditions (0.99 O.D.). The nitrogen source sodium nitrate (2.5 gl -1 ) can be replaced by inexpensive and low concentration of urea fertilizer (0.12 gl -1 ). The growth rates of this strain were optimum at light intensities of 1500 to 2500 lux of continuous light (0.99 to 1.71 O.D.) or 2500 lux of intermittent light (1.32 O.D.). The optimal growth was recorded at lower pH 7 to 8 (1.19 to 1.76 O.D.), and temperature of 25 to 35°C (1.13 to 1.71 O.D.). Therefore, this microalga can be cultivated for commercial uses in the available natural ponds where the average temperature reached 30°C and light intensities fluctuated between 1000 to 4000 lux in the morning, 12,000 to 22,000 lux midday, and 7000 to 10,000 lux in the noon. Keywords: Arthrospira ( Spirulina ) platensis, indoor and outdoor cultures, light intensity, pH, sodium nitrate, temperature, urea. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(35), pp. 5458-5465
Highlights
Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis is a planktonic, filamentous cyanobacterium that grows in tropical, subtropical and temperate water habitats (Vonshak, 1997; Colla et al, 2007; Rodrigues et al, 2011; Madkour et al, 2012)
The algal biomass of 0.5 O.D. was used as initial inoculum to study the effect of different concentration of Zarrouk media, light intensity and urea on the physiological growth of this strain under both outdoor and indoor conditions, whereas the concentration of 0.2 O.D. was used as inoculum for testing the indoor impacts of pH and temperature on the growth of the alga (Canizares et al, 1995)
The growth and biomass production of Spirulina depends on many physico-chemical factors such as nutrients availability, pH, light, and temperature
Summary
Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis is a planktonic, filamentous cyanobacterium that grows in tropical, subtropical and temperate water habitats (Vonshak, 1997; Colla et al, 2007; Rodrigues et al, 2011; Madkour et al, 2012) This microalga deserves special attention due to its nutritional properties as high single cell protein for human food supplement, animal and fish feed. It produces numerous bioactive compounds such as vitamins, essential amino acids, minerals, polysaturated fatty acids, biopigments, and antioxidents (Kamat, 1995; Abu et al, 2007; Pandey and Tiwari, 2010; Pandey et al, 2010; Madkour et al., 2012; Thirumala, 2012). Different low cost media were used for cultivation of Spirulina such as Zarrouk media (Cola et al, 2007; Jitendra et al, 2012; Madkour et al, 2012; Thirumala, 2012)
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