Cultivation of Spirulina maxima using alternative sources of nutrients for the biocompounds production: pigments, carbohydrates and biochar

• Grant number: 19/06352-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: November 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Daniela Helena Pelegrine Guimarães
• Grantee: Lucas Ioran Marciano
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Among the new alternatives of energy sources, microalgae and cyanobacteria, microorganisms that grow rapidly in the aquatic environment, has the characteristic to accumulate biocompounds wit can be converted into biofuels and produce value-added biocompounds. Specifically, the cyanobacterium Spirulina maxima synthesize pigments such as chlorophyll, phycocyanin, and carotenoids, in addition to accumulating significant amounts of carbohydrates and proteins. However, the cultivation stage remains costly because the cultivation medium requires a large amount of nutrients, with a high cost of production on an industrial scale. An alternative currently considered to reduce the overall cost of biomass production is the adoption of alternative sources of nitrogen, phosphorus or carbon (essential macronutrients to cell growth), either by lower-cost reagents or by using effluents containing nitrogenous compounds, phosphate compounds or containing organic material. In this context, the present project aims to study the cultivation of S. maxima with different nitrogen and carbon sources and to analyze the effect on biocompounds production with their inclusion in the concept of biorefinery. For this purpose, the cultures of S. maxima in modified Zarrouk medium using urea, sodium acetate, and glycerol will be carried out, which will be analyzed in terms of productivity in dry mass, carbohydrates, phycocyanin and biochar. It is highly expected to obtain an optimal cultivation condition for sustainable bioproducts production. This project also aims to develop the sustainable collection of bioproducts of industrial interest from the research group at Laboratory of Microalgae Engineering (LEM) at the Engineering School of Lorena (EEL-USP) integrating two projects financed by FAPESP (16 / 23416-6 and 16/18909- 3).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARCIANO, LUCAS IORAN; PEDRO, GUILHERME ARANTES; DOS SANTOS, WALLYSON RIBEIRO; TAGLIAFERRO, GERONIMO VIRGINIO; BATISTA, FABIO RODOLFO MIGUEL; GUIMARAES, DANIELA HELENA PELEGRINE. New nutrients evaluation in Spirulina maxima growth for phycocyanin, carbohydrate, and biochar production. PIGMENT & RESIN TECHNOLOGY, v. N/A, p. 9-pg., 2023-08-15. (19/06352-2)