Green alga cultivation with monoethanolamine: Evaluation of CO2 fixation and macromolecule production

This study aimed to assess the growth of Chlorella strains isolated from adverse environments at various concentrations of monoethanolamine (MEA), evaluating the CO2 fixation and macromolecule production. For this purpose, the green algae Chlorella sp. and Chlorella fusca LEB 111 were tested against five concentrations of MEA: 50, 75, 100, 200 and 300 mg L−1. The strain C. fusca LEB 111 exhibited higher tolerance to MEA as well as higher accumulation of dissolved inorganic carbon and efficiency of CO2 utilization (approximately 37.0% w w−1) with the addition of 100 and 150 mg L−1 of MEA. In addition, the highest carbohydrate productivity and the highest lipid productivity were obtained with 50 and 100 mg L−1 of MEA, respectively. Thus, the absorbent increased the carbon concentration in the medium, and its use in culture can be exploited by C. fusca LEB 111 to produce higher macromolecule concentrations.