title: A method to estimate the biomass of Spirulina platensis cultivated on a solid medium.
abstract: This paper presents a method to estimate the biomass of Spirulina cultivated on solid medium with sugarcane bagasse as a support, in view of the difficulty in determining biomass concentrations in bioprocesses, particularly those conducted in semi-solid or solid media. The genus Spirulina of the family Oscillatoriaceae comprises the group of multicellular filamentous cyanobacteria (blue-green microalgae). Spirulina is used as fish feed in aquaculture, as a food supplement, a source of vitamins, pigments, antioxidants and fatty acids. Therefore, its growth parameters are extremely important in studies of the development and optimization of bioprocesses. For studies of biomass growth, Spirulina platensis was cultured on solid medium using sugarcane bagasse as a support. The biomass thus produced was estimated by determining the protein content of the material grown during the process, based on the ratio of dry weight to protein content obtained in the surface growth experiments. The protein content of the biomass grown in Erlenmeyer flasks on surface medium was examined daily to check the influence of culture time on the protein content of the biomass. The biomass showed an average protein content of 42.2%. This methodology enabled the concentration of biomass adhering to the sugarcane bagasse to be estimated from the indirect measurement of the protein content associated with cell growth.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Engenharia de Alimentos (DEA) Programa de Mestrado Profissional em Inovação Tecnológica (PMPIT) Instituto de Ciências Tecnológicas e Exatas (ICTE) Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro Uberaba, Minas Gerais Brazil Departamento de Engenharia de Alimentos (DEA), Programa de Mestrado Profissional em Inovação Tecnológica (PMPIT), Instituto de Ciências Tecnológicas e Exatas (ICTE), Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lúcia Helena
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Pelizer
authors.affiliation: Probiom Tecnologia Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Experimental em Ciências Físicas e Naturais Ltda CampinasSP Brazil Probiom Tecnologia Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Experimental em Ciências Físicas e Naturais Ltda, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Iracema de Oliveira
authors.initials: Ide O
authors.lastname: Moraes
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D018533:Biomass; D002482:Cellulose; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D008828:Microbiological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D031786:Saccharum; D053545:Spirulina / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003470:Culture Media; D002482:Cellulose; C027433:bagasse
keywords: Spirulina platensis; estimative of biomass; protein content; solid state cultivation; sugarcane bagasse