Production of lipids from psychrophilic microalgae present in antarctic glaciers for the synthesis of biofuel

Abstract

Microalgae had a negative impact on the overall sensory quality. Psychrophilic microalgae live in extremely cold environments, their growth increases because they have enzymes in their structure that only adapt to temperatures below 0 ° C. For this reason, the Sustainable Chemistry Laboratory of the Central University of Ecuador, together with the Ecuadorian Antarctic Institute (INAE), made an expedition in the Greenwich, Roberts, Dee, Barrientos and Antarctic Towers where several microalgae consortia were collected, where 15 samples from Greenwich Island and Roberts were analyzed at 21 days at different temperatures, from which the genera Chlorella sp, Chlorococcum sp and Stichococcus sp. Subsequently, isolation was made in Petri dishes to obtain monoalgal cultures. Each of the isolated genera was massified in a volume of 5 mL until reaching a volume of 250 mL in modified M1 medium at a temperature of 4 ° C and 24 ° C, 5000 lux and a photoperiod of 12:12 hours. The Bligh & Dyer method was used for the extraction of lipids. The values of the lipid concentration showed that the genus Chlorella sp is the highest concentration with a value of 0.2802 mg / mL at 4 ° C and a value of 2.6704 mg / mL at 24 ° C on the 22nd day of its exponential phase in comparison with the genera Chlorococcum and Stichococcus sp.