Valorization of wastewater from industrial hydroponic cultivations using the microalgal species Chlorella vulgaris

Abstract

The continuous increase in the world population is associated with a greater demand for food. This need has driven the development of new cultivation systems capable of producing large quantities of vegetable biomass in a small space, with precise and regulated control of the use of resources. Among these, vertical farms are systems developed in height, and they produce continuously throughout the year.The hydroponic system is commonly used in vertical farming and entails the growth of plants in a solution rich in nutrients, easily assimilated by plants. However, hydroponic solutions still contain nutrient salts at the end of the productive cycle. Consequently, spent hydroponic solutions cannot be directly released into the environment because they would cause water pollution. Thus, they need to be appropriately treated, increasing production costs.Microalgae represent a cost-effective solution for treating and valorizing hydroponic wastewater. They can easily consume the residual nutrients, generating valuable biomass that can be exploited as a biofertilizer, a biostimulant, or even as a valuable food supplement.The present work showed the ability of the model eukaryotic microalga Chlorella vulgaris to use valuable resources derived from industrial cultivations of basil and tobacco in a hydroponic deep-water culture system. Although the use of spent hydroponic solutions slightly affected the microalgal biomass accumulation of more than ~40 % compared to the fresh solution, possibly due to the presence of root exudates that have an antagonistic effect toward microalgae, the phytoremediation activity of microalgae was achieved. The reported results described the consumption of more than 80 % and 70 % of P and N residual nutrients in hydroponic formulations, respectively. Moreover, more than 2 g/L of microalgal biomass was generated after 7 days of growth in air-lifted photobioreactors. The outcomes of this research provide new insights toward greater sustainability of vertical farming, following circular economy principles.