2. Academic Validation
  3. Towards protein production and application by using Chlorella species as circular economy

Towards protein production and application by using Chlorella species as circular economy

  • Bioresour Technol. 2019 Oct;289:121625. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121625.
Yu-Cheng Lai 1,  Chien-Hsiang Chang 1,  Chun-Yen Chen 2,  Jo-Shu Chang 3,  I-Son Ng 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
  • 2 University Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan.
  • 3 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan; Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan; Research Center for Circular Economy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan; College of Engineering, Tunghai University, Taichung 407, Taiwan.
  • 4 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan. Electronic address: yswu@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
PMID: 31203183 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121625
Abstract

In this study, productions of microalgal proteins were explored via a circular economy concept. First, production of proteins from Chlorella vulgaris FSP-E (CV) and Chlorella sorokiniana (CS) was optimized by using favorable cultivation conditions and strategies. The optimal CO2 concentration for the growth of both microalgae was 5% (v/v), while the optimal nitrogen source for CV and CS were 12 mM of NaNO3 and NH4Cl, respectively. Addition of 12 mg/L ammonium iron (III) citrate enhanced protein production. Next, semi-batch cultivation strategy was employed to achieve a protein production of 793.3 and 812.8 mg/L for CV and C S, representing a 4.86 and 2.77 fold increase, respectively, in protein productivity. The obtained microalgal proteins consist of 40% essential Amino acids. The CV and CS proteins possess prebiotic activities as they enhanced the growth of Lactobacillus rhamnosus ZY by 48 and 74%, respectively, with a good Antibacterial activity against predominant pathogens.

Keywords

Antibacterial activity; Chlorella; Microalgal proteins; Prebiotic properties.

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