Effect of Nitrogen Content and CO2 Consumption Rate by Adding Sodium Carbonate in the Lipid Content of Chlorella vulgaris and Neochloris oleoabundans

This study evaluated the effects on growth and lipid content of Chlorella vulgaris and Neochlorisoleoabundans under reduced nitrogen content and enrichment with sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Both C. vulgaris and N. oleoabundans were cultivated in medium with NH4Cl and KNO3 as only source of nitrogen, respectively. The nitrogen initial content was of 30 mg 1 super( -1) at 32 degree C and light intensity of 100 mu mol m super( -2) s super( -1). The maximum cell density obtained was of 21.80 x 10 super( 6) cells ml super( -1) and 28.12 x 10 super( 6) cells ml super( -1) for both microalgae, where higher growth rate was obtained for N. oleoabundans of 0.219 d super( -1) that C. vulgaris of 0.183 d super( -1) with similar lipids content (65.20-69.31%). The consumption rate of carbon dioxide showed that N. oleoabundans had a greater capacity and tolerance for using carbon dioxide and carbonate (112.8-115.2 mg l super( -1) d super( -1)) with respect to C. vulgaris 95.76-105.75 mg l super( -1) d super( -1).