Study on biological characteristics and biomass production of the green microalgae (Nannochloris atomus) isolated from Vietnam for the extraction of bioactive compounds

Abstract

Microalgae are known to be a nutrient-rich feed source for many aquatic animals. It is also an important raw material source to exploit high biological activity substances for humans. This is the first study on biological characteristics and algae biomass production from the green microalgae Nannochloris atomus being carried out in Vietnam. In this study, scientific name of the strain N. atomus NT12 based on morphological characteristics and 18S rRNA gene sequence (with accession number MW007766 on the GenBank) was identified. At the best conditions for the growth (i.e. Walne medium, 3 x 10⁶ cells/mL initial cell density, 25 -30^oC growth temperature, 60 - 100 µmol/m²s light intensity, pH 7, 30‰ salinity), highest NT12 strain cell density of 30 x 10⁶ cells/mL was obtained after 30 days of culture. The microalgae N. atomus NT12 was also successfully cultured on a pilot scale in the plastic bottle 10 L and closed photobioreactors 20 – 50 L resulting in a high biomass productivity of 209 mg/L/day and a biomass rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid (C18:1n-9), linoleic acid (C18:2n-6) and α-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3) qualified for the purpose of extraction of value bioactive compounds.