Influence of cultivation conditions on carotenoid accumulation in Antarctic microalgae Chlorella variabilis
摘要
Nowadays, isolating microalgae from polar regions, cultivating them on a large scale, and integrating them into the economy is a subject of great importance. This study aims to investigate the carotenoid production potential of the Chlorella variabilis YTU.ANTARCTIC.001, isolated from Horseshoe Island, Skua Lake, Antarctica. In this regard, the temperature, nitrogen concentrations in media and illumination time required for the cultivation of the isolated microalgae were evaluated for maximum carotene production. Subsequently, the microalgae grown under the best conditions were characterized, and the obtained data were used for the design of a large-scale production process. According to the results, the highest efficient carotenoid production was observed at the temperature of 27 °C, the nitrogen concentration of 2.9 mg/L and the illumination time of 16 h. Under these conditions, the amount of carotenoid produced was measured at 2.51 mg/L, while the growth rate and doubling time of the microalgae were calculated as 0.33 day−1 and 2.09 days, respectively. While recognizing the limitations of extrapolating from laboratory to industrial scale, the results suggest that Antarctic microalgae represent a promising resource for carotenoid production, with potential relevance to future biotechnological applications.