Maximizing fucoxanthin production in Odontella aurita by optimizing the ratio of red and blue light-emitting diodes in an auto-controlled internally illuminated photobioreactor

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 344; no. Pt B; p. 126260
• Main Authors: Zhang, Hu, Gong, Pengyan, Cai, Qinghua, Zhang, Chengwu, Gao, Baoyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Biomass; Diatoms; Fucoxanthin; Humans; Internal illumination; Light; Light spectrum; Microalgae; Odontella aurita; Photobioreactor; Photobioreactors; Xanthophylls; Fucoxanthin; Light spectrum; Odontella aurita; Photobioreactor; Internal illumination
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126260

[Display omitted] •A novel PBR with internal LEDs illumination was used for fucoxanthin production.•Mixing RL and BL at the ratio of 8:2 promoted fucoxanthin production in O. aurita.•The highest fucoxanthin productivity of O. aurita reached 9.41 mg L-1 d-1.•Pilot-scale cultivation demonstrated its feasibility in fucoxanthin production. Fucoxanthin has multiple beneficial effects on human health. However, an efficient cultivation strategy for hyper-production of microalgae-based fucoxanthin has been seldom achieved. Here, an auto-controlled photobioreactor (PBR) installed internal light-emitting diodes illumination with adjustable spectra ratio was firstly used to culture Odontella aurita. The results showed that red light (RL) was more suitable for cell growth and fucoxanthin accumulation than blue light (BL) and white light. The biomass and fucoxanthin production were further promoted by optimizing the ratios of RL and BL, with 8:2 giving the highest productivities of 570 and 9.41 mg L-1 d-1, respectively, which is the highest fucoxanthin productivity ever reported under photoautotrophic cultivation. Pilot-scale cultivation demonstrated its promising feasibility in commercial fucoxanthin production. Our study represents a pioneering work of harnessing the PBR with internal illumination for hyper-production of microalgae-based fucoxanthin, and provides feasible strategies for high-efficient production of other value-added products in related species/strains.