title: Bioprospecting for oil producing microalgal strains: evaluation of oil and biomass production for ten microalgal strains.
abstract: Microalgae have the ability to grow rapidly, synthesize and accumulate large amounts (approximately 20-50% of dry weight) of lipids. A successful and economically viable algae based oil industry depends on the selection of appropriate algal strains. In this study ten species of microalgae were prospected to determine their suitability for oil production: Chaetoceros gracilis, Chaetoceros mulleri, Chlorella vulgaris, Dunaliella sp., Isochrysis sp., Nannochloropsis oculata, Tetraselmis sp., Tetraselmis chui, Tetraselmis tetrathele and Thalassiosira weissflogii. The study was carried out in 3 L glass flasks subjected to constant aeration and controlled artificial illumination and temperature at two different salinities. After harvesting, the extraction of oil was carried out using the Bligh and Dyer method assisted by ultrasound. Results showed that C. gracilis presented the highest oil content and that C. vulgaris presented the highest oil production.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici, Bloco 827, 60455-760 Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Glacio S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.forename: Leonardo J B L
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.forename: Luciana R B
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Fabiano A N
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Wladimir R L
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Farias
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D058086:Microalgae / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D009821:Oils / Q000378:metabolism*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D009821:Oils