Cultivation of an algae-bacteria consortium in wastewater from an industrial park: Effect of environmental stress and nutrient deficiency on lipid production

Adoption of microalgae-sourced products depends on the economic feasibility. In the case of fatty acids, it is crucial to obtain high lipid yield, especially in the form of storage lipids (TAGs). However, the production of these lipids often comes into competition with the microalgae biomass, resulting in a decrease in growth. A microalgae culture integration project was conducted in an industrial park in Canada in order to cultivate microalgae from park's wastewaters and then obtain products from the biomass. Different deficiencies and stresses were tested to evaluate what condition allowed the induction of the highest lipids accumulation without compromising the growth of microalgae. The results showed that the medium controlled to pH 7.0 allowed reaching the largest amount of extracted lipids (28 ± 4.3%). Companies involved in this project could be able to make significant savings by the reduced wastewater treatment costs and by not adding expensive nutrients in culture.