Feast-Famine in Cyclic Autotrophy/Heterotrophy Doubles Microalgal Productivity while Controlling Bacterial Contamination.

ABSTRACT: Conventional outdoor microalgal cultures are limited by light availability, with the absence of light during the night causing approximately 50% reduction of daily productivity in Europe. In this study, an innovative process was developed to enhance microalgal biomass productivity in photobioreactors by supplementing organic substrate at sunset, thereby implementing a cyclic autotrophic/heterotrophic cultivation (day, autotrophic; night, heterotrophic). When organic substrate was supplied at sunset in quantities sufficient to sustain growth throughout the whole night, significant bacterial contamination occurred, leading to a yield Y _X/S = 0.18 g g^-1. To address this issue, a "feast-famine" feeding strategy was here designed, optimizing substrate dosage and sup

SUBMITTER: Di Caprio F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12506366 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature