Monitoring of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) production in the microalgae Nannochloropsis oceanica

Marta Sa; Narcis Ferrer-Ledo; Rene Wijffels; Joao G. Crespo; Maria Barbosa; Claudia F. Galinha

doi:10.1016/j.algal.2019.101766

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Monitoring of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) production in the microalgae Nannochloropsis oceanica

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Monitoring of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) production in the microalgae Nannochloropsis oceanica

Marta Sa, Narcis Ferrer-Ledo, Rene Wijffels, Joao G. Crespo, Maria Barbosa and Claudia F. Galinha

Algal research (Amsterdam), Vol.45, p.101766

01/01/2020

DOI: 10.1016/j.algal.2019.101766

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https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/monitoring-of-eicosapentaenoic-acid-epa-production-in-the-microalView

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Abstract

With the increase awareness for a healthier food regime and greener environmental processes, microalgae are being looked as a solution for a sustainable production of polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Nannochloropsis oceanica is an oleaginous microalga, well-known for the ability of EPA accumulation, although higher lipid productivities are still required to make the process competitive. Therefore, three cultivation parameters were tested in the present work (temperature, light cycles and nitrogen supply) in order to study the EPA profile in the polar and neutral fractions of the cells. In addition, an online monitoring tool based on a fluorescence spectroscopy technique was developed with the aim of increasing process knowledge at real time. The results of this work show that nitrogen depletion induces the highest variability in EPA accumulation in the neutral fraction (triacylglycerols). However, to increase the EPA content in the polar fraction a different strategy needs to be implemented, such as decreasing the cultivation temperature or the light available per cell. Chemometric models were developed through PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and PLS (Projection to Latent Structures), using only fluorescence spectra as inputs, enabling the monitoring of EPA in both fractions separately. High explained variance was observed (above 85%) in both fractions, with R-2 above 0.81 and slopes above 0.93 for both validation and training data sets. Lower values of cross-validation and prediction errors were observed (between 0.29 and 0.49% g/g(DW)). The results obtained show that fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful technique for online monitoring of non-fluorophore molecules, such as EPA, in complex process like microalgae cultivation.

Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Science & Technology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Monitoring of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) production in the microalgae Nannochloropsis oceanica
Creators: Marta Sa - Wageningen University & Research
Narcis Ferrer-Ledo - Wageningen University & Research
Rene Wijffels - Wageningen University & Research
Joao G. Crespo - Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Maria Barbosa - Wageningen University & Research
Claudia F. Galinha - Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Algal research (Amsterdam), Vol.45, p.101766
DOI: 10.1016/j.algal.2019.101766
ISSN: 2211-9264
eISSN: 2211-9264
Publisher: Elsevier
Number of pages: 10
Grant note: 745754 / Bio-based Industries Joint Technology Initiative under European Commission SFRH/BD/108894/2015 / Fundao para a Cincia e a Tecnologia UID/QUI/50006/2019 / Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES SFRH/BPD/95864/2013; SFRH/BD/108894/2015 / FCT/MCTES; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT)
Language: English
Date published: 01/01/2020
Academic Unit: International Programs; Spanish and Portuguese
Record Identifier: 9984398012702771

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