Lumped intracellular dynamics: Mathematical modeling of the microalgae Tetradesmus obliquus cultivation under mixotrophic conditions with glycerol

Microalgae can be grown mixotrophically with compounds from industrial waste, such as glycerol, obtained from biodiesel production. Therefore, considering the concerns regarding the showed, this work developed the mathematical modeling of the microalgae Tetradesmus obliquus in the photoautotrophic and mixotrophic cultivation using glycerol. The logistic factor hypothesis is based on the main routes of central metabolism. It can describe the accumulation of biomass, protein, carbohydrates, and lipids, considering a logistical factor in the system, showing computational simulations and experimental data, to the factors mentioned for both cultivations. This mathematical model paper is the first for mixotrophic cultivation with glycerol, which accurately describes the experimental data obtained for biomass and the metabolites considered simultaneously. Depending on the experimental conditions and through this biomolecules production prediction, microalgae could improve time and productivity to reduce the final biomass cost, which is one of the main factors that make large-scale cultivation expensive. •First model to describe intracellular dynamics in microalgae mixotrophic culture.•The model accurately describes the accumulation of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates.•The model is computationally fast, taking less than 1 s to run a simulation.•The model accurately described the experimental data, with SSE of 0.1721.