Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Analysis of Fatty Acid Content and Composition in Microalgae
Published on: October 1, 2013
Nutritional mode influences lipid accumulation in microalgae with the function of carbon sequestration and nutrient
M Prathima Devi1, Y V Swamy, S Venkata Mohan
1Bioengineering and Environmental Centre (BEEC), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad 500 607, India.
Abstract:
Effect of nutritional mode viz., photoautotrophic, photoheterotrophic and photomixotrophic on the biomass growth and lipid productivity of microalgae was studied. Experiments were designed and operated in biphasic mode i.e., growth phase (GP) followed by stress induced starvation phase (SP). Nutritional mode documented marked influence on biomass growth and subsequent lipid productivity. Mixotrophic mode of operation showed higher biomass growth (4.45 mg/ml) during growth phase while higher lipid productivity was observed with nitrogen deprived autotrophic mode (28.2%) followed by heterotrophic (26.1%) and mixotrophic (19.6%) operations. Relative increments in lipid productivities were noticed in SP operation from GP in mixotrophic operation (2.45) followed by autotrophic (2.2) and heterotrophic (2.14) mode of operations. Higher concentrations of chlorophyll b and presence of lipid accumulating species supported the lipid biosynthesis. Algal fatty acid composition varied with function of nutritional modes and depicted eighteen types of saturated (SFA) and unsaturated fatty acids (USFA) with wide fuel and food characteristics.
Related Concept Videos
Biofuels
Green Algae
Lipid Catabolism
Marine Microbial Ecology
Red Algae
Overview of Algae

