Biomass Production, Chlorophll A and Carotenoid Contents of Spirulina Maxima in Mixed Culture of Lactose

Pollution of the wastewater is a problem for the sustainable development of aquaculture and food industry. Although many treatments have been used in the field, the expensive cost limited their wide application. Microalgae such as Spirulina can utilize the organic substrates of the wastewater as its C or N sources, so it is feasible to purify the wastewater by the microalgae. On another hand, microalgae are a good biomass energy that can be used to produce biofuels. Therefore, culturing microalgae in wastewater and producing microalgae biomass are probable a good method to deal with the problem. The present paper studied and discussed the effects of lactose on its biomass nenergy, chlorophyll a and carenoid contents. The results showed that the biomass of S.maxima could increase significantly after addition of lactose. The optimal lactose concentration was 15 g/L and at that concentration S.maxima can grow best, but chlorophyll a and carotenoid contents decrease remarkably. Compared with glucose and acetate, S.maxima had higher tolerance, which would be used for the relief of inhibitory effects caused by over carbon sources.