Development of Low Cost Mass Culture Media for Spirulina platensis
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Date
2019-02
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Spirulina platensis is an algae popular as a food supplement with high protein content. The pure cultures of Spirulina are maintained using Zarrouk medium, which cannot be used for mass culture as the medium is highly expensive. The present study aims to develop a low cost mass culture media suitable for commercial scale culture of S. platensis in Sri Lanka. Three culture media [T1 (w/w)-NaHCO3:73.68%, NaCl:8.77%, Urea :10.96%, Albert solution:4.38%, T2 (w/w)-NaHCO3:75.4%, NaCl:7.18%, Muriate of Potash:4.39%, Triple Supper Phosphate:1.79%, Urea:11.22%, T3 (w/w) -Triple Supper Phosphate:0.95%, NaNO3:7.18%, Muriate of Potash:4.96%, NaCl:47.91%, MgSO4 :0.71%, CaCl2:0.19%, NaHCO3:38.33%] were formulated by incorporating selected fertilizers and other cost-effective alternative chemicals, while Zarrouk medium was used as the control. Three media were tested in triplicates for growth performance of Spirulina. One-unit volume was used from a pure culture with 1100 cells ml-1 and inoculated in to all the treatments. Cultures were initiated in an axenic batch culture method in the formulated media and maintained under the illumination of 4000 lux and at 35oC temperature. The growth rate of culture was measured by counting the number of cells under light microscope and cell ratio was calculated. Data were collected once in three days for 15 days and data were statistically analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) Results revealed the significantly high numbers of cells (186.24±25.76 cells ml-1) in T3 followed by control 123.21±3.10 cells ml-1, T1 114.80±27.97 cells ml-1, T2 96.92±3.69 cells ml-1 (P<0.05). Hence, T3 medium was identified as the most favorable media for the growth of S. platensis. The highest growth rate was also observed in T3 medium during the 15 days culture period. According to the cost analysis, T3 medium was three times cheaper than the Zarrouk’s medium and can be recommended for initiating mass culture of S. platensis in Sri Lanka.
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Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries