Triacylglycerol content, productivity and fatty acid profile in Scenedesmus acutus PVUW12

• DOI: 10.1007/s10811-013-0170-9
• Publication Date: 2013-10-07T17:10:17Z
• Authors: M. Cecilia Damiani; Cecilia A. Popovich; Diana Constenla; Ana María Martínez; Enrico Doria; Paolo Longoni; Rino Cella; Erik Nielsen; Patricia I. Leonardi
• Keywords: EN 14214; Scenedesmus; Photobioreactor

A detailed lipid characterization of Scenedesmus acutus PVUW12, with emphasis on the evaluation of triacyl- glycerols (TAGs) as a biodiesel feedstock, is presented. When algal cells were grown in nitrogen-free medium (N stress), a lipid increase was detected that was mainly due to TAG accumulation. In situ fluorescence measurements allowed the kinetics and extent of neutral lipid accumulation to be followed. Under N stress, the productivity of total lipids and TAGs increased significantly (80.99 and 63.74 mg L �1 day �1 , respectively) compared with controls (29.51 and 16.23 mg L �1 day �1 , respectively). Monounsaturated fatty acids were the major fraction and increased further (49.74 %) in stressed cells, with oleic acid as the most abun- dant compound (46.97 %). The polyunsaturated fatty acid composition of this algal oil appears to meet the European Standard EN 14214. These results indicate that S. acutus oil meets the requirements for its use as a biodiesel feedstock. Since this strain was also proposed for wastewater bioreme- diation, this opens up the possibility of its use in an integrated system combined with biofuel production.