Puteri Ezzah Syafiah Mohd Saifu, Shoriya Aruni Abdul Manaf, Farahayu Khairuddin,  Low Kheng Oon, Siti Fatimah Zaharah MohamadFuzi and Nor Hasmaliana Abdul Manas

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COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CULTURE MEDIA ON GROWTH AND FATTY ACID PROFILES OF Chlorella vulgaris AND Chlamydomonas reinhardtii FOR BIODIESEL   

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Abstract 

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The increasing demand for sustainable and renewable energy sources has intensified interest in microalgae-based biodiesel production due to their high lipid productivity. Optimizing culture conditions, particularly the selection of appropriate growth media to maximize lipid yield and desirable fatty acid profiles remains a key challenge.  This study investigated the growth, lipid accumulation, and fatty acid profiles of two microalgae species, Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 3723, cultivated in three different media. The results revealed that C. vulgaris thrived best in Bold Basal Medium (BBM) with specific growth rate of 0.5764 day-1 while C. reinhardtii 3723 showed optimal growth in Blue-Green Medium 11 (BG-11) medium with specific growth rate of 0.4862 day-1. C. vulgaris also recorded the highest chlorophyll content of 12.847 nmol/mL in BBM and that C. reinhardtii 3723 of 8.788 nmol/mL in BG-11 media. BBM and BG-11 also supported the highest total fatty acid accumulation in C. vulgaris (12,264.16 ppm) and C. reinhardtii 3723 (5,242.70 ppm), respectively, while promoted the greatest proportion of biodiesel-favorable FAMEs (e.g., C16:0, C18:1) in C. vulgaris (48.53%) and C. reinhardtii 3723 (79.42%), respectively. C. vulgaris exhibited high media sensitivity, requiring the rich nutrient and phosphate-buffered environment of BBM to maintain high cell growth. While, C. reinhardtii 3723 demonstrated greater nutritional versatility, achieving substantial biomass across all three media formulations. This study demonstrates species-specific effects of culture media on microalgal growth, lipid accumulation, and fatty acid profiles, providing a basis for targeted medium selection for biodiesel production.

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