Achievements and Perspectives in Hetero- and Mixotrophic Culturing of Microalgae

This work presents the experimental results obtained in the hetero- and mixotrophic culture of Chlorella vulgaris, a microalga belonging to the Chlorophyceae class. Objective of the study was evaluating the capability of the microalga to accumulate lipids, prospectively usable either in biodiesel production or in the extraction of nutraceuticals. Our study shows that C. vulgaris can increase its lipid content from ∼15% (balanced-, autotrophically-grown biomass) to more than 50%, and highlighted the difference between the type (i.e., polar or nonpolar) of the lipids accumulated upon nitrogen and phosphorus starvation. An apparent interaction between diel rythms and glucose uptake was also suggested, together with its implications on productivity. Copyright © 2009, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.