Evaluation of the productivity of microalgae Scenedesmus acuminatus (Lagerheim) Chodat in different culture medium

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increase of activities, processes and applications involving the use of microalgae and their biomass. Nevertheless, the perspective of the use these microorganisms depend on the species cultivated on a large scale. The nutrients present in the culture medium need to attend the nutritional needs of algae, providing high productivity. This study aimed to evaluate the microalgae Scenedesmus acuminatus productivity in different culture medium and, from the best medium, to analyze the yield obtained with its dilutions. The tested cultures medium were:  MC, DM, NPK (10:10:10) and NPK (20:5:10). The culture medium using MC showed the best algal biomass productivity with respect to time. Tests with dilution of the culture medium showed that it´s possible to use the MC medium in a proportion ten times smaller without to pawn the productivity. Thus, we concluded that the MC medium has attended the nutritional needs of the microalga Scenedesmus acuminatus, providing a higher amount of biomass in a shorter cultivation time.