Browsing by Author "Ibarra Vidal, Mary"
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- ItemOpen AccessEnhancing the Production of Lipids and Antioxidants in Heterotrophic Cultures of Auxenochlorella protothecoides(2016) Ibarra Vidal, Mary; De la Hoz Siegler, Hector; Kallos, Michael; Chu, AngusAuxenochlorella protothecoides, aside its potential for biofuels, is an excellent source of antioxidants, reaching high lipid productivity under heterotrophic conditions utilizing glucose. Glucose-fed cultures, however, experience chloroplast bleaching affecting antioxidants production. In this study, glycerol, was evaluated as a carbon source at varying carbon-nitrogen ratios in batch-cultures. Glycerol presence in glucose fed-cultures reduced, or completely eliminated, chloroplast bleaching and increased the substrate-to-biomass yield beyond its thermodynamic limit. These results, suggest that glycerol forced the photosynthetic pathway to remain active, resulting in dark carbon fixation through the Calvin-cycle reactions. The maximum cell-density and biomass productivity were 17.60 g/L and 1.91 g/L·d respectively. Cultures grown on only-glycerol showed the highest lipid yield, 149 mg-lipids/g-substrate and antioxidants yield 6.650 µmol-Trolox/g-substrate. These values were higher to those observed with sole-glucose fed-cultures by 7% and 93% respectively. The maximum antioxidant productivity reached was 12.53 µM-TEAC/L•d, value comparable to those previously reported for Haematococcus Pluvialis.