Investigating the productivity of biomass, lipid content, and biodiesel fuel in the mixed culture of Scenedesmus sp. and Desmodesmus armatus microalgae.

Subject Areas : microalgae

Ammar Bagheri ¹ , Mohammad Gholami Parashkoohi ^{2 *} , Ahmad Mohammadi ³ , Davood Mohammadzamani ⁴

1 - Department of Biosystem Mechanical Engineering. Takestan Branch. Islamic Azad university. Takestan, Iran
2 - Department of Biosystem Engineering, Takestan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran
3 - Department of Bio-system mechanical, Arak branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
4 - Department of Biosystem Mechanical Engineering. Takestan Branch. Islamic Azad university, Takestan, Iran

Received: 2023-03-17 Accepted : 2023-05-22 Published : 2025-06-22

Keywords: Microalgae, Secondary metabolite, mixed culture, primary metabolite, pure culture,

Abstract :

The role of biotechnology in the production of primary and secondary metabolites of algae is of great importance. Pure and single-cell algae cultivation has been widely carried out in the past years. Although mixed cultures of microalgae have advantages over pure cultures, there is still insufficient information on the performance of mixed cultures. In this research, all the effective factors in the growth of two types of freshwater microalgae in mixed culture and their biological effects on the growth rate, biomass, and lipid were investigated. The selected species included Scenedesmus sp and Desmodesmus armatus microalgae. After the initial culture and reaching the appropriate concentration, the sample was transferred to the vertical photobioreactor and environmental factors were applied to the microalgae in pure and mixed cultures. Then the effects of environmental parameters and type of cultivation on biomass productivity and lipid content were investigated. The results showed that the highest amount of cell density and biomass in the conditions of a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, the light intensity of 3000 lux, 16 hours of exposure, and acidity of 8 is related to the pure culture of Scenedesmus sp and then the mixed culture of Scenedesmus sp and Desmodesmus armatus  . The highest amount of lipid production in constant temperature conditions of 30^oC, 18 hours of exposure, the light intensity of 4000 lux, and acidity of 9 were related to Scenedesmus sp  and then Desmodesmus armatus  . Regarding the amount of biodiesel produced, the highest amount was related to Scenedesmus sp  microalgae and then Desmodesmos in the conditions of 16 hours of exposure, 4000 lux radiation, a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, and a ph of 8. The results showed that the mixed microalgae culture compared to the pure culture had a positive effect on the production of biomass and cell density and a negative effect on the production of secondary metabolites such as lipids. Of course, regarding the percentage of extracted biodiesel, it was observed that the biodiesel in the mixed culture was higher than in the pure culture of Desmodesmus armatus  algae.

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