Production of eicosapentaenoic acid by microalgae
1990
Pongtep Antarikanonda | Aparat Chetsumon (Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, Bangkok (Thailand). Biotechnology Dept. Applied Algotechnology and Cytogenetics Laboratory)
Several marine microalgae were investigated for their capability of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5 W 3) and arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4 W 6) production. Four of the algae investigated which are commonly found in Thailand, namely, Navicula sp. 1, Thalassiosira pseudomonana, Tetraselmis chuii, and Skeletonema costatum were found to produce EPA and AA. Among them, Navicula sp. 1 was the fastest growing algal species with generation time (td) of 0.73 day, when the culture is grown under light intensity of 3,500 lux, at light-dark cycle of 12:12 and at the temperature of 25 deg. celsius. The total fatty acids content of 1.69 % (expressed as weight percent of ash free dry weight) was obtained from the algal cells harvested at the stationary growth phase. The arachidonic acid (AA) content in algal cells in exponential growth phase and in stationary phase were 7.48 % and 12.8 % (weight percent of total fatty acids), respectively. The EPA content of the cells in stationary growth phase (19.20 %) was also higher than that (14.79 %) of the cells grown in exponential phase. The alga Navicula sp. 1 having the highest EPA content and the fastest growth rate was chosen for further studies. By carefully determining the optimal environmental and nutritional conditions for high productivity of the alga, EPA production would be optimized.
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