Abstract
The production of sustainable foods and other bioproducts is expected to increase to achieve key circular bioeconomy goals. In this study, Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae cells were simultaneously harvested and immobilized in the hyphal matrix of the edible fungal strain Aspergillus awamori. The study investigated the impact of fungal loading, pellet geometry, and initial microalgae cell concentration on the immobilization performance and product characteristics. It was found that higher fungal loading and larger fungal pellets contributed to increased immobilization performance. High initial microalgae concentrations led to substantial inhibition of the immobilization behavior, which could be partially overcome by increased specific loading rate of fungi (g/g algae). A proof-of-concept demonstration study of product protein content showed that manipulation of key operational parameters allowed the product composition to be tuned to desired criteria. This study provides new insights to the fungal-assisted microalgae immobilization process and demonstrates a novel application in bioproduct customization.
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