Eicosapentaenoic acid production from Nannochloropsis oceanica CY2 using deep sea water in outdoor plastic-bag type photobioreactors

In this study, Nannochloropsis oceanica CY2 was grown in deep-sea water (DSW)-based medium in 5-L plastic bag-type photobioreactors (PBRs) for the autotrophic production of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3). EPA production of N. oceanica CY2 was stimulated when it was grown in 100% DSW amended with 1.5 g L−1 NaNO3, achieving a EPA content of 3.1% and a biomass concentration of 3.3 g L−1. An outdoor-simulated microalgae cultivation system was also conducted to validate the feasibility of outdoor cultivation of the CY2 strain in plastic bag-type PBRs. Using an inoculum size of 0.6 g/L, the biomass concentration in the PBR culture was 3.5 g L−1, while the EPA content and productivity reached a maximal level of 4.12% and 7.49 mg L−1 d−1, respectively. When the PBRs were operated on semi-batch mode, the EPA productivity could further increase to 9.9 mg L−1 d−1 with a stable EPA content of 4.1%.