Photosynthetic production of Dunaliella biomass from natural salt water and carbon dioxide

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Abstract
A Dunaliella strain has been isolated and grown in a medium containing saline lake water. Using 40% saline water and mixture of CO2‐air (4% CO2) the algae grew with a specific growth rate of 0.073 h−1. The maximum cell concentration was 5.6 × 107 cells cm−3 which corresponded to 3.63 g dm−3 of dry biomass. Using 80% saline water, a glycerol concentration of 1.47 g glycerol g−1 of, protein was obtained which amounted to 44.3% of Dunaliella dry weight. Fermentor CO2 from a continuous yeast culture was also used as carbon source for photosynthetic growth. At 2.5% CO2 in the exit gas a decrease of the specific growth rate was observed but the final concentration attained was comparable to that obtained with CO2‐air mixtures.