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Effective biomass harvesting of marine diatom Chaetoceros muelleri by chitosan-induced flocculation, preservation of biomass, and recycling of culture medium for aquaculture feed application

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Abstract

Microalgae are a promising new source of biomass; however, large-scale economical harvesting of microalgal biomass is a major technological and economic challenge, limiting the commercial production of microalgal biomass for high-value compounds. In this study, the cationic polymer chitosan was used for the harvesting of the marine diatom Chaetoceros muelleri. Natural flocculation, and pH and chitosan-induced flocculation were studied in detail. The effects of flocculant dosage, culture pH, initial biomass concentration, and sedimentation time were investigated on biomass recovery. The results showed that flocculation efficiency can reach > 99% with an optimum dosage of chitosan (80 mg L−1) at pH 9.6 and settling time of 40 minutes for biomass concentration from 0.2 to 1.2 g L−1. The reusability of the recycled water, preservation of biomass after harvesting, and cost of the harvesting process were evaluated. The results showed that the chitosan-induced flocculation offers an efficient, cost-effective, rapid, and sustainable harvesting method for C. muelleri biomass for food and feed applications in aquaculture.

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Funding

This study was funded by Kerala Biotechnology Commission, Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), the Government of Kerala, India, and M/s Oriental Aquamarine Biotech. India (Pvt.) Ltd, Coimbatore, India, under the Industry Linked Biotechnology Research Scheme (File No. 17 /IBRS /KBC/2009/KSCSTE). The first author is a recipient of BSR fellowship by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India.

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  1. National Centre for Aquatic Animal Health, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Lakeside Campus, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi, Kerala, 682016, India

    Jisha Kumaran, I. S. Bright Singh & Valsamma Joseph

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  1. Jisha Kumaran
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  2. I. S. Bright Singh
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Correspondence to Valsamma Joseph.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Growth of C. muelleri in modified F/2 medium. Data are represented with ± standard error (SE; n = 3) (PNG 183 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 2479 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Pictures of flocculation of C. muelleri at different pH values, (a) 10.0; (b) 10.10; (c) 10.12; (d) 10. 14; (e) 10.16 (f) 10.18; (g) 10.20; (h) 10.22 (PNG 417 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 134328 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

Flocculation of C. muelleri treated with different concentrations of chitosan. Data are represented with ± standard error (SE; n = 3) (PNG 194 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 3205 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 4

C. muelleri culture before and after flocculation (A) 10 L culture, (B) 1 L culture (C) microscopic image (PNG 1182 kb)

High resolution image (TIF 321 kb)

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Kumaran, J., Singh, I.S.B. & Joseph, V. Effective biomass harvesting of marine diatom Chaetoceros muelleri by chitosan-induced flocculation, preservation of biomass, and recycling of culture medium for aquaculture feed application. J Appl Phycol 33, 1605–1619 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-021-02369-4

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