Green alga cultivation with monoethanolamine: Evaluation of CO₂ fixation and macromolecule production

This study aimed to assess the growth of Chlorella strains isolated from adverse environments at various concentrations of monoethanolamine (MEA), evaluating the CO₂ fixation and macromolecule production. For this purpose, the green algae Chlorella sp. and Chlorella fusca LEB 111 were tested against five concentrations of MEA: 50, 75, 100, 200 and 300 mg L^-1. The strain C. fusca LEB 111 exhibited higher tolerance to MEA as well as higher accumulation of dissolved inorganic carbon and efficiency of CO₂ utilization (approximately 37.0% w w^-1) with the addition of 100 and 150 mg L^-1 of MEA. In addition, the highest carbohydrate productivity and the highest lipid productivity were obtained with 50 and 100 mg L^-1 of MEA, respectively. Thus, the absorbent increased the carbon concentration in the medium, and its use in culture can be exploited by C. fusca LEB 111 to produce higher macromolecule concentrations.