Liquid Anaerobic Digestate as a Source of Nutrients for Lipid and Fatty Acid Accumulation by Auxenochlorella Protothecoides.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the biomass of unicellular algae as a source of valuable metabolites. The main limitations in the commercial application of microbial biomass are associated with the costs of production thereof. Maize silage is one of the main substrates used in biogas plants in Europe. The effects of sterilized agricultural liquid digestate (LD) from methane fermentation of maize silage on the growth rates, macro and micronutrient removal efficiency, lipid content, and fatty acid profile in Auxenochlorella protothecoides were investigated. The results indicate that A. prothecoides can proliferate and accumulate lipids with simultaneous reduction of nutrients in the 1:20 diluted liquid digestate. The rate of nitrogen and phosphorus removal from the liquid digestate was 79.45% and 78.4%, respectively. Cells growing in diluted liquid digestate exhibited the maximum lipid content, i.e., 44.65%. The fatty acid profile of A. prothecoides shows a decrease in the content of linolenic acid by 20.87% and an increase in oleic acid by 32.16% in the LD, compared with the control. The liquid digestate changed the content of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The cells of A. protothecoides growing in the liquid digestate were characterized by lower PUFA content and higher MUFA levels.

Glucose supplementation-induced changes in the Auxenochlorella protothecoides fatty acid composition suitable for biodiesel production.

This study evaluates the effect of different concentrations of glucose supplementation on growth, lipid accumulation, and the fatty acid profile in the Auxenochlorella protothecoides. Addition of glucose promoted the growth rate and decreased the chlorophyll content. Compared with photoautotrophic cells, an increase in the lipid content was observed in mixotrophic cells. The glucose addition induced changes in the fatty acid profile. Higher content of saturated fatty acids was found in the case of cells growing in the glucose-free medium. Oleic acid was the predominant component in mixotrophic cells supplemented with 5gL(-1) glucose, while linoleic acids dominated in cultures supplemented with both 1 and 3gL(-1) glucose. The use of glucose was associated with decreased levels of linolenic acid and PUFA. The changes in the fatty acid profile in mixotrophic cells are favourable for biodiesel production.