Mixotrophic Chlorella sp. UJ-3 cultivation in the typical anaerobic fermentation effluents

The growth of mixotrophic Chlorella sp. UJ-3 cultivated in the three typical anaerobic fermentation effluents was investigated in this paper. The results showed that the microalgae grew best under intermediate light intensity for all the types of fermentation effluents. The butyrate type fermentation effluents induced the fastest growth rate for Chlorella sp. UJ-3, with a maximal cell concentration of 3.8 × 107 cells/mL. Under intermediate light intensity, the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were almost depleted on the fifth day of the cultivation for all the three types of fermentation systems. The ratios of chlorophyll a/b were all increased for the three systems, indicating enhanced energy-capturing capability of the microalgae for photosynthesis after the VFAs were depleted. The highest lipid content was 25.4%dwt achieved in the butyrate type fermentation, and the fatty acid compositions were found to be considerably different for these three types of fermentation systems.