Proximate Analysis, Lipid Profile, Microbiological and Pigment Characterization of Chlorella Dry Powder Produced in a 20 L Agitated Photobioreactor

Aims: The aim of this work was to investigate the massive production of Chlorella with food purposes. The second objective was the characterization of the dried product, in terms of proximal, microbiological, pigment and specific lipids analysis.

Place and Duration of Study: This work was carried out mostly in the bioprocess laboratory, UPIBI-Instituto Politecnico Nacional in 2016.

Methodology: The Chorella Powder was cultivated in a 20 L agitated tank. Chlorella was separated from the media, dried and characterized in terms of proximal analysis, lipid profile, microbiological and pigments. Results were compared with a commercial product.

Results: It was feasible the production of Chlorella in a 20 L agitated reactor in outdoor conditions. The calculated value of m was 0.093 day-1. The Chlorella product presented similar characteristics to a commercial product maybe except in the protein content (the commercial Chlorella had a protein contain up to 40% and the home-made product, 21%). The microbiological characterization indicated that both home-made and commercial products are able to be used as human food or supplement. The analysis of pigments by TLC showed the presence of zeaxhantine, b-carotene, chlorophyll a, pheophorbide and pheophitine. The lipids of the home-made product were composed basically of a-linoleic acid (23.4% in molar basis) and palmitic acid (17.5%), followed by linoleic (13.5%) and stearic acids (12%), while the commercial product lipids were composed mainly by a-linoleic (26.9%) and palmitoleic acids (19.1%), followed by palmitic acid (18.9%).

Conclusion: It was feasible the production of Chlorella in a 20 L agitated reactor in outdoor conditions.The home-made product is very similar to the comercial one. It can be used as nutraceutic, providing with proteins, minerals, antioxidant and healthy lipids to the consumer.