Abstract
Since the 1950s, microalgae have been grown commercially in man-made cultivation units and used for biomass production as a source of food and feed supplements, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and lately biofuels, as well as a means for wastewater treatment and mitigation of atmospheric CO2 build-up. In this work, photosynthesis and growth affecting variables—light intensity, pH, CO2/O2 exchange, nutrient supply, culture turbulence, light/dark cell cycling, biomass density and culture depth (light path)—are reviewed as concerns in microalgae mass cultures. Various photosynthesis monitoring techniques were employed to study photosynthetic performance to optimize the growth of microalgae strains in outdoor cultivation units. The most operative and reliable techniques appeared to be fast-response ones based on chlorophyll fluorescence and oxygen production monitoring, which provide analogous results.
Highlights
Centre Algatech, Laboratory of Algal Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology CAS, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
In microalgae biotechnology two basic systems are used in microalgae mass production: one being open reservoirs, which usually covers a large area, while the other represents closed transparent vessels, PBRs, with natural or artificial illumination where the culture has no direct contact with the atmosphere
Oxygenic photosynthesis is expressed as a redox reaction driven by light energy, in which CO2 and water are converted to carbohydrates and oxygen molecules are released (Equation (1))
Summary
Phytoplankton/microalgae are major global contributors to primary productivity, assimilating about half of all carbon dioxide converted annually into organic matter [1]. For about 70 years they have been grown commercially in man-made cultivation units and used as food and feed supplements, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and lately biofuels, as well as for wastewater treatment and mitigation of atmospheric CO2 build-up [2,3]. These microorganisms produce a spectrum of bioproducts—. In microalgae biotechnology two basic systems are used in microalgae mass production: one being open reservoirs (with direct contact of the culture with the environment), which usually covers a large area, while the other represents closed transparent vessels, PBRs, with natural or artificial illumination where the culture has no direct contact with the atmosphere. It is important to analyze the variables affecting culturing of a selected strain and consider possible pros and cons for a particular cultivation system
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