Microalgae culture optimization and industrial upscaling: influence of light composition on growth, pigment content and photosynthetic response of four microalgal species with commercial interest

Abstract

In this work the author has studied the influence of light composition on growth, pigment content and photosynthetic response in four microalgae species with commercial interest: the Chlorophyta Haematococcus pluvialis, Dunaliella salina, and Dunaliella tertiolecta, and the Rhodophyta Porphyridium cruentum. The results show how light composition is a parameter that may largely influence the production of compounds with industrial interest. Therefore, the use of a specific light spectrum is confirmed as an important tool for the optimization of artificial-light microalgae cultivation. Moreover, the work has been carried out in an industrial environment and shows the upscaling of a two-stage H. pluvialis cultivation as a proof of concept of the aforementioned, at a pilot-scale.