Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for Microalgae

Abstract The cultivation of microalgae has been a biotechnological technique with many advances throughout history; however, depending on the growth conditions, the production of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, polyphenols and terpenes (metabolites primary and secondary) has been favored...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jesús Alberto Coronado-Reyes, Juan Carlos González-Hernández
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto de Tecnologia do Paraná (Tecpar) 2025-08-01
Series:Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-89132025000100612&lng=en&tlng=en
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849222126515519488
author Jesús Alberto Coronado-Reyes
Juan Carlos González-Hernández
author_facet Jesús Alberto Coronado-Reyes
Juan Carlos González-Hernández
author_sort Jesús Alberto Coronado-Reyes
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The cultivation of microalgae has been a biotechnological technique with many advances throughout history; however, depending on the growth conditions, the production of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, polyphenols and terpenes (metabolites primary and secondary) has been favored or affected. This work consists of designing and building a photobioreactor with internal blue LED light to monitor the pH, temperature, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and light intensity in real time to increase the current production yields of biomass and metabolites with great potential for biotechnological applications. With the construction of the photobioreactor, the growth kinetics of the microalgae C. vulgaris were determined by applying the Taguchi experimental statistical methodology (mixotrophic medium) to evaluate its antioxidant activity. Like independent variables: substrate concentration (sodium nitrate, NaNO3) and light exposure time (photoperiod). The dependent variables were as follows: cell growth, biomass, substrate consumption (UV‒vis, 301 λ), and metabolites with antioxidant activity (ABTS•+ and DPPH• radical methods). In conclusion, the construction of a photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation allows greater control of growth factors such as CO2, pH, temperature and dissolved O2 and allows the microalgae growth medium to be isolated from the outside and thus avoid contamination by microbial agents from the environment. Similarly, the best growth condition for C. vulgaris with antioxidant activity is a concentration of 3.6 mM NaNO3 and a low photoperiod time of 8 hours of light and 16 hours of darkness, generating an equivalent response of Trolox 16 µM/mL for ABTS•+ and equivalents of Trolox 6 µM/mL for DPPH•.
format Article
id doaj-art-76c20fba10a24b51bfc18fe3fa23f346
institution Kabale University
issn 1678-4324
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Instituto de Tecnologia do Paraná (Tecpar)
record_format Article
series Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology
spelling doaj-art-76c20fba10a24b51bfc18fe3fa23f3462025-08-26T07:46:49ZengInstituto de Tecnologia do Paraná (Tecpar)Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology1678-43242025-08-016810.1590/1678-4324-2025240416Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for MicroalgaeJesús Alberto Coronado-Reyeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2243-9597Juan Carlos González-Hernándezhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2558-5108Abstract The cultivation of microalgae has been a biotechnological technique with many advances throughout history; however, depending on the growth conditions, the production of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, polyphenols and terpenes (metabolites primary and secondary) has been favored or affected. This work consists of designing and building a photobioreactor with internal blue LED light to monitor the pH, temperature, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and light intensity in real time to increase the current production yields of biomass and metabolites with great potential for biotechnological applications. With the construction of the photobioreactor, the growth kinetics of the microalgae C. vulgaris were determined by applying the Taguchi experimental statistical methodology (mixotrophic medium) to evaluate its antioxidant activity. Like independent variables: substrate concentration (sodium nitrate, NaNO3) and light exposure time (photoperiod). The dependent variables were as follows: cell growth, biomass, substrate consumption (UV‒vis, 301 λ), and metabolites with antioxidant activity (ABTS•+ and DPPH• radical methods). In conclusion, the construction of a photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation allows greater control of growth factors such as CO2, pH, temperature and dissolved O2 and allows the microalgae growth medium to be isolated from the outside and thus avoid contamination by microbial agents from the environment. Similarly, the best growth condition for C. vulgaris with antioxidant activity is a concentration of 3.6 mM NaNO3 and a low photoperiod time of 8 hours of light and 16 hours of darkness, generating an equivalent response of Trolox 16 µM/mL for ABTS•+ and equivalents of Trolox 6 µM/mL for DPPH•.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-89132025000100612&lng=en&tlng=enYieldsmetabolitesreal timescalingTaguchioptimization.
spellingShingle Jesús Alberto Coronado-Reyes
Juan Carlos González-Hernández
Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for Microalgae
Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology
Yields
metabolites
real time
scaling
Taguchi
optimization.
title Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for Microalgae
title_full Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for Microalgae
title_fullStr Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for Microalgae
title_full_unstemmed Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for Microalgae
title_short Design, Construction and Instrumentation of Photobioreactor for Microalgae
title_sort design construction and instrumentation of photobioreactor for microalgae
topic Yields
metabolites
real time
scaling
Taguchi
optimization.
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-89132025000100612&lng=en&tlng=en
work_keys_str_mv AT jesusalbertocoronadoreyes designconstructionandinstrumentationofphotobioreactorformicroalgae
AT juancarlosgonzalezhernandez designconstructionandinstrumentationofphotobioreactorformicroalgae