LED power efficiency of biomass, fatty acid, and carotenoid production in Nannochloropsis microalgae

Ruijuan Ma; Skye R Thomas-Hall; Elvis T Chua; Eladl Eltanahy; Michael E Netzel; Gabriele Netzel; Yinghua Lu; Peer M Schenk

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.12.096

LED power efficiency of biomass, fatty acid, and carotenoid production in Nannochloropsis microalgae

Bioresour Technol. 2018 Mar:252:118-126. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.12.096. Epub 2017 Dec 29.

Authors

Ruijuan Ma¹, Skye R Thomas-Hall², Elvis T Chua², Eladl Eltanahy³, Michael E Netzel⁴, Gabriele Netzel⁴, Yinghua Lu⁵, Peer M Schenk⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China; Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
² Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
³ Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia; Phycology Laboratory, Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Egypt.
⁴ Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, PO Box 156, Archerfield, Queensland 4108, Australia.
⁵ Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China.
⁶ Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia. Electronic address: p.schenk@uq.edu.au.

PMID: 29306714
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.12.096

Abstract

The microalga Nannochloropsis produces high-value omega-3-rich fatty acids and carotenoids. In this study the effects of light intensity and wavelength on biomass, fatty acid, and carotenoid production with respect to light output efficiency were investigated. Similar biomass and fatty acid yields were obtained at high light intensity (150 μmol m^-2 s^-1) LEDs on day 7 and low light intensity (50 μmol m^-2 s^-1) LEDs on day 11 during cultivation, but the power efficiencies of biomass and fatty acid (specifically eicosapentaenoic acid) production were higher for low light intensity. Interestingly, low light intensity enhanced both, carotenoid power efficiency of carotenoid biosynthesis and yield. White LEDs were neither advantageous for biomass and fatty acid yields, nor the power efficiency of biomass, fatty acid, and carotenoid production. Noticeably, red LED resulted in the highest biomass and fatty acid power efficiency, suggesting that LEDs can be fine-tuned to grow Nannochloropsis algae more energy-efficiently.

Keywords: Carotenoids; Light emitting diode; Microalgae; Nannochloropsis; Omega-3 fatty acids.

MeSH terms

Biomass*
Carotenoids
Fatty Acids
Microalgae*
Stramenopiles

Substances

Fatty Acids
Carotenoids