Effects of water enrichment on microalgae Spirulina platensis growth parameters in the southern Caspian Sea

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

2 Caspian Sea Research Center, Sari, Iran Caspian Research Group of Fisheries & Water Pollutants, Sari, Iran

Abstract

Spirulina is an important microalgae in human nutrition due to its phenolic compounds, proteins, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Production of this microalgae using low-cost sources such as sea water has always been considered to achieve high production at low cost. In this study, sea water from three areas of southern Caspian Sea (Gomishan, Sari and Mahmoud Abad) were enriched by 0, 5, 10, 20% Zarrouk medium to study the growth of Spirulina microalgae. Spirulina culturing was performed at 30°C, 4670 ± 350 lux light intensity and 12 h dark, 12 h light period. The results showed that standard Zarrouk medium has the highest specific growth rate (0.11) and growth rate (0.15). Sea water from Gomishan area enriched by 20% standard Zarrouk medium showed highest specific growth rate and growth rate (0.12, 0.088, respectively) following standard Zarrouk medium. In this medium, the number of cells reached to 3.5 ´ 105 cell mL-1 after 23 days, while in standard Zarrouk medium number of cells reached to 5.75 ´ 105 cell mL-1. Results showed that by using the Caspian Sea water enriched by standard Zarrouk medium can reduce Spirulina production costs.


 

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