Algae are used in many industries, including environmental remediation, feedstock production, and fuel production. As an important element of algal culture, the optimization of algae culture media is crucial throughout the algae culture process.

With a wealth of experience, Lifeasible can provide professional optimization services of algae culture media to support your project.

The Composition of Algae Culture Media

Parameters of microalgae cultivation such as biomass concentration, lipid content, starch content, and protein content, are generally influenced by the type and source of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the medium. Hence, optimization of medium composition is the key point to achieving high cell density.

• Organic Carbon Sources
  As a biologically important energy material, optimization of organic carbon sources can effectively change the metabolic pathways of algae. Common organic carbon sources in algal media include sodium acetate, glycerol, maltose, lactose, sucrose, and glucose.
• Nitrogen Sources
  Nitrogen is an essential component of proteins and nucleic acids, which is critical to the division and growth of microalgal cells. Inorganic nitrogen in microalgae is rapidly assimilated and recycled within the cell to meet changing physiological demands and consequently, microalgae grown in nitrogen-deficient media tend to shift their fixed carbon pool to accumulate starch, carbohydrate, or lipids, which in turn leads to an increase in the lipid/protein or starch/protein ratio. The most common sources of nitrogen include urea, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, ammonium acetate, and ammonium chloride.
• Phosphorus Sources
  Phosphorus is a component of ATP and is important for phosphorylation, which is highly relevant to the cell growth and metabolism of microalgae. Phosphate starvation in the medium leads to inhibition of ATP synthesis and CO₂ assimilation, whereas the increase of phosphate in the medium directs more synthetic pathways of ribulose-5-phosphate, which may be a reason for increasing biomass production by increasing phosphate concentration. The most common sources of nitrogen include urea, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, ammonium acetate, and ammonium chloride.

PH of Algae Culture Media

In microalgae culture, pH affects cellular metabolism and enzymatic activity. Therefore, the pH of the environment is considered to be an important factor in enhancing the biosynthesis of microalgal productions. Thus, pH adjustment has a significant impact on microalgal metabolism by altering solubility and the absorption of nutrients and CO₂, leading to changes in enzymatic and metabolic activities of microalgae and ultimately to improved biomass and production.

Our Services

• Optimization of Nutrients
  Our algae culture media optimization service is conducted through two complementary approaches, one of which is the traditional “one factor at a time/empirical" and statistical methods and the other of which is the statistical methodology to optimize the three essential nutrients, containing organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus sources, and other micronutrients, such as iron, zinc, and manganese.
• The One Factor at A Time/Empirical for Media Optimization
  Providing the traditional "controlled variable method" to fine-tune the culture base parameters.
• The Statistical Methodology for Media Optimization
  Containing factorial design and regression analysis to find the optimal organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus sources.
• Optimization of PH
  The pH measurement is determined by the concentration of H⁺ or hydrogen ions in the water. Lifeasible is able to monitor and adjust the pH value in the medium in real-time to ensure the high quality of algae culture.

Why Choose Us

Lifeasible is experienced in the optimization of algae culture media. We have provided high-quality algae culture services for many institutions and companies worldwide for years. Please contact us for more information.

Our services are for research use only and not for any clinical use.