Cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis for astaxanthin recovery in a bubble column photo bioreactor

Haematococcus pluvialis biomass could produce significant amounts of astaxanthin, which are valuable antioxidants in nutraceutics, cosmetics, food and feed industries. Astaxanthin have several properties such as antioxidant, UV-light protection, anti-inflammatory and many possible role in many human health problems. As the optimal source of astaxanthin, Haematococcus pluvialis was cultivated using a vertical bubble column photobioreactor (closed system) under batch conditions. Interestingly, the 1 kg dry biomass of microalgae have the potential to mitigate around 1.8 kg of CO2, which reduces the greenhouse gases in the environment. Therefore, the different concentration of CO2 (i.e., 0.5, 1.5 and 3%) were tested to enhance the growth rate as well as the astaxanthin content. The growth phase and astaxanthin accumulation was investigated at different time intervals and at the end of growth phase. The biomass of H. pluvialis was harvested using the membrane filtration technology for effective recovery of biomass. After the filtration process, the biomass lyophilized and extraction of astaxanthin was carried out using accelerated solvent extraction system.The pretreatment of H. pluvialis was carried out under optimized conditions to enhance the recovery of astaxanthin. Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) solvents were used for the extraction of astaxanthin, which is considered by U.S. Food and Drug Administration as solvent normally accepted for pharmaceuticals and food industry. Acknowledgments This paper has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 745695 (VALUEMAG).