Natural pigments from microalgae grown in industrial wastewater

Larissa T Arashiro; María Boto-Ordóñez; Stijn W H Van Hulle; Ivet Ferrer; Marianna Garfí; Diederik P L Rousseau

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122894

Natural pigments from microalgae grown in industrial wastewater

Bioresour Technol. 2020 May:303:122894. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122894. Epub 2020 Jan 27.

Authors

Larissa T Arashiro¹, María Boto-Ordóñez², Stijn W H Van Hulle³, Ivet Ferrer⁴, Marianna Garfí⁵, Diederik P L Rousseau³

Affiliations

¹ GEMMA - Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya BarcelonaTech, c/ Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; LIWET - Laboratory of Industrial Water and Ecotechnology, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University Campus Kortrijk, Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 5, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium.
² KASK, School of Arts, University College Ghent, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
³ LIWET - Laboratory of Industrial Water and Ecotechnology, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University Campus Kortrijk, Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 5, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium.
⁴ GEMMA - Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya BarcelonaTech, c/ Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
⁵ GEMMA - Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya BarcelonaTech, c/ Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: marianna.garfi@upc.edu.

PMID: 32032937
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122894

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the cultivation of Nostoc sp., Arthrospira platensis and Porphyridium purpureum in industrial wastewater to produce phycobiliproteins. Initially, light intensity and growth medium composition were optimized, indicating that light conditions influenced the phycobiliproteins production more than the medium composition. Conditions were then selected, according to biomass growth, nutrients removal and phycobiliproteins production, to cultivate these microalgae in food-industry wastewater. The three species could efficiently remove up to 98%, 94% and 100% of COD, inorganic nitrogen and PO₄^3--P, respectively. Phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin were successfully extracted from the biomass reaching concentrations up to 103, 57 and 30 mg/g dry weight, respectively. Results highlight the potential use of microalgae for industrial wastewater treatment and related high-value phycobiliproteins recovery.

Keywords: Bioproduct; Circular economy; Photobioreactor; Pigments; Resource recovery; Spirulina.

MeSH terms

Biomass
Microalgae*
Porphyridium*
Spirulina*
Wastewater

Substances

Waste Water