pH Dependent Growth of Chlorella in a Continuous Culture System 1

Production and growth of a local strain of marine Chlorella sp. was investigated under different pH levels ranging from pH 6.0–8.5 using 200 L capacity algal tubes. The results show that a pH of 6.5 will be most conducive for producing this species in a continuous culture system. The highest production was 136 g/m³/d with a mean of 117 ± 11 g/m³/d at pH 6.5 compared with other pH levels tested. The total fatty acid content was elevated at low pH levels and ω 3 PUFA increased as the pH was lowered from 8.5 to 6.5. The investigations show that algal productivity is considerably higher in the continuous culture system than in any of the other culture systems available.