Manipulation of Biochemical Compositions of Chlorella sp.

This work aimed to study the effect of several environmental parameters (light intensity, temperature, and aeration rate) on the accumulation of nutritional components and lutein production in a green microalgae Chlorella sp. It was proven in this work that the biochemical composition of Chlorella sp. could be manipulated through the control of environmental conditions during the cultivation. Six simple 2L bubble column photobioreactors installed in a well-controlled culture chamber was employed as a model system where temperature, light intensity, and aeration rate (u(sg)) could be controlled in the range from 30-40(circle)C (+/- 0.5(circle)C), 10-30 kLux (+/- 0.1 kLux), and 0.5-1.5 cm/s (+/- 0.05 cm/s), respectively. Lipid and protein productivity were the most abundant at 35(circle)C, 10 kLux and 1 cm/s, whereas carbohydrate productivity was found to be maximized at 30(circle)C, 30 kLux and 0.5 cm/s. In addition, Chlorella sp. could also generate strong antioxidizing agents like lutein which was found to be mostly produced at 35(circle)C, 10 kLux and 1 cm/s.