Production of phycocyanin and biochar from Spirulina maxima applying slurry as carbon source

• Grant number: 19/21901-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2020
• End date: August 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Daniela Helena Pelegrine Guimarães
• Grantee: Matheus Lopes da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Microalgae have been used as sources of biocompounds that can be converted into biofuels and value-added biocompounds, driving the development of new technologies capable of producing them on a large scale and of considerable quality. Among the various species, the cyanobacterium Spirulina maxima is one of the most important because it synthesizes pigments (chlorophyll, phycocyanin, and carotenoids), and accumulate carbohydrates and proteins in significant amounts. However, the fact that cultivation demands high nutrient content makes it costly, making it difficult to produce these microorganisms on an industrial scale. An alternative currently considered to reduce the overall cost of biomass production is the adoption of alternative sources of macronutrients essential for cell growth (nitrogen, phosphorus or carbon), where different types of effluents have been tested. In this context, the present project aims to study the cultivation of S. maxima with a different carbon source and to analyze the effect on the production of biocompounds of interest with their inclusion in the biorefineries concept. For this purpose, cyanobacteria S. maxima will be cultivated in a modified Zarrouk medium using slurry, which will be analyzed in terms of dry mass yield, carbohydrates, phycocyanin, and biochar. An optimized cultivation condition is expected to be obtained for the sustainable production of bioproducts. This project is part of the sustainable procurement of bioproducts of industrial interest from the research group of the EEL-USP Microalgae Engineering Laboratory (LEM), integrating two projects funded by FAPESP (16/23416-6 and 16/18909- 3).