Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a type of wastewater posing large problems when discharged in th... more Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a type of wastewater posing large problems when discharged in the environment. Yet, due to its high nutrient content, POME may offer opportunities for algal growth and subsequent harvesting of high-value products. The marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a potential feedstock diatom for bioactive compounds such as the carotenoid fucoxanthin, which has been shown to have pharmaceutical applications. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the growth and fucoxanthin productivity of P. tricornutum grown on POME, as a function of light intensity, temperature, salinity, and nutrient enrichment. High-saturating irradiance (300 μmol photons m −2 s −1) levels at 25 °C showed highest growth rates but decreased the fucoxanthin productivity of P. tricornutum. Box-Behnken response surface methodology revealed that the optimum fucoxanthin productivity was influenced by temperature, salinity, and the addition of urea. Nutrient enrichment by phosphorus did not enhance cell density and fucoxanthin productivity, while urea addition was found to stimulate both. We conclude that POME wastewater, supplemented with urea, can be considered as the potential medium for P. tricornutum to replace commercial nutrients while producing high amounts of fucoxanthin.
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the major source of environmental hazard in palm oil industry. Y... more Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the major source of environmental hazard in palm oil industry. Yet, due to its high nutrient content, POME may offer opportunities for the growth of algae as a source of value-added compounds such as sulfated extracellular polysaccharide (sEPS) while simultaneously removing valuable nutrients such as phosphate. The aim of this paper was to evaluate growth, total sEPS production, and nutrient removal by the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum grown on POME under a range of experimental conditions (temperature, salinity, supplementation of extra nutrients). Phaeodactylum tricornutum was found to grow well on a range of POME concentrations, with 30% POME as optimum concentration. Nitrate and urea addition enhanced both growth rate and final biomass, whereas phosphate significantly stimulated growth only at low temperature. Box-Behnken response surface methodology revealed that interactions between temperature and salinity, and between temperature and urea influenced sEPS production. The highest total sEPS (140 mg L −1) concentration was recorded at 25 °C, 2.6% salinity, and 100 mg L −1 urea addition. Our study shows that POME wastewater, supplemented with urea at relatively high temperatures, can be considered as a potential medium for P. tricornutum to replace commercial nutrients while producing high amounts of sEPS and removing almost 90% of phosphorous from the wastewater.
South East Asia dominates the production of palm oil worldwide. During the traditional wet proces... more South East Asia dominates the production of palm oil worldwide. During the traditional wet processing, palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater is generated which poses serious environmental problems. Wastewater treatment using microalgae was initiated recently because of the advantages to lower nutrient content efficiently while the biomass can be utilized as bulk biomass or value added product. In the present review the utilization of wastewater for microalgal cultivation is discussed with particular attention to the feasibility of utilizing POME as microalgal growth medium. Whereas much recent research was focused on the production of bulk biomass, the potential for the production of value-added compounds has not often been addressed. Various strategies of obtaining high-value products are discussed. These include cultivation systems, algal species selection as well as and their growth strategies (autotrophic, heterotrophic, mixotrophic). In addition, potential problems associated with microalgal cultivation on POME will be evaluated. Finally, the concept of using stepwise strategies to obtain high value added product will be proposed.
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is well known as agricultural wastewater that has a high potential ... more Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is well known as agricultural wastewater that has a high potential as a medium for microalgal growth due to its high macro-and micronutrient content. The cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis is considered as a species with a high C-phycocyanin (C-PC) content which is important for fine chemical and pharmaceutical applications. However, cultivation of A. platensis on POME to produce economically feasible amounts of C-PC has not been well explored. For this, environmental, nutritional, and cultivation modes (batch, semi-continuous) were varied to optimize C-PC productivity when cultivated at various POME concentrations. Arthrospira platensis was found to grow well on POME. Highest biomass and C-PC concentrations were found on 30-100% POME. Central composite rotatable design (CCRD) response surface methodology demonstrated that C-PC productivity was influenced by urea addition at the optimum salinity. The highest C-PC productivity was found on 100% POME during semi-continuous cultivation, while the addition of phosphorus and urea did not significantly improve C-PC productivity. By applying semi-continuous cultivation with 50% POME at the first stage and 100% POME at the second stage, a similarly high C-PC productivity (4.08 ± 1.3 mg L −1 day −1) was achieved as compared with (artificial) Zarrouk medium during batch cultivation. We conclude that, when using a two-stage semi-continuous cultivation process, A. platensis can produce economically feasible amounts of C-PC when cultivated on 100% POME.
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a type of wastewater posing large problems when discharged in th... more Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a type of wastewater posing large problems when discharged in the environment. Yet, due to its high nutrient content, POME may offer opportunities for algal growth and subsequent harvesting of high-value products. The marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a potential feedstock diatom for bioactive compounds such as the carotenoid fucoxanthin, which has been shown to have pharmaceutical applications. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the growth and fucoxanthin productivity of P. tricornutum grown on POME, as a function of light intensity, temperature, salinity, and nutrient enrichment. High-saturating irradiance (300 μmol photons m −2 s −1) levels at 25 °C showed highest growth rates but decreased the fucoxanthin productivity of P. tricornutum. Box-Behnken response surface methodology revealed that the optimum fucoxanthin productivity was influenced by temperature, salinity, and the addition of urea. Nutrient enrichment by phosphorus did not enhance cell density and fucoxanthin productivity, while urea addition was found to stimulate both. We conclude that POME wastewater, supplemented with urea, can be considered as the potential medium for P. tricornutum to replace commercial nutrients while producing high amounts of fucoxanthin.
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the major source of environmental hazard in palm oil industry. Y... more Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the major source of environmental hazard in palm oil industry. Yet, due to its high nutrient content, POME may offer opportunities for the growth of algae as a source of value-added compounds such as sulfated extracellular polysaccharide (sEPS) while simultaneously removing valuable nutrients such as phosphate. The aim of this paper was to evaluate growth, total sEPS production, and nutrient removal by the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum grown on POME under a range of experimental conditions (temperature, salinity, supplementation of extra nutrients). Phaeodactylum tricornutum was found to grow well on a range of POME concentrations, with 30% POME as optimum concentration. Nitrate and urea addition enhanced both growth rate and final biomass, whereas phosphate significantly stimulated growth only at low temperature. Box-Behnken response surface methodology revealed that interactions between temperature and salinity, and between temperature and urea influenced sEPS production. The highest total sEPS (140 mg L −1) concentration was recorded at 25 °C, 2.6% salinity, and 100 mg L −1 urea addition. Our study shows that POME wastewater, supplemented with urea at relatively high temperatures, can be considered as a potential medium for P. tricornutum to replace commercial nutrients while producing high amounts of sEPS and removing almost 90% of phosphorous from the wastewater.
South East Asia dominates the production of palm oil worldwide. During the traditional wet proces... more South East Asia dominates the production of palm oil worldwide. During the traditional wet processing, palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater is generated which poses serious environmental problems. Wastewater treatment using microalgae was initiated recently because of the advantages to lower nutrient content efficiently while the biomass can be utilized as bulk biomass or value added product. In the present review the utilization of wastewater for microalgal cultivation is discussed with particular attention to the feasibility of utilizing POME as microalgal growth medium. Whereas much recent research was focused on the production of bulk biomass, the potential for the production of value-added compounds has not often been addressed. Various strategies of obtaining high-value products are discussed. These include cultivation systems, algal species selection as well as and their growth strategies (autotrophic, heterotrophic, mixotrophic). In addition, potential problems associated with microalgal cultivation on POME will be evaluated. Finally, the concept of using stepwise strategies to obtain high value added product will be proposed.
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is well known as agricultural wastewater that has a high potential ... more Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is well known as agricultural wastewater that has a high potential as a medium for microalgal growth due to its high macro-and micronutrient content. The cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis is considered as a species with a high C-phycocyanin (C-PC) content which is important for fine chemical and pharmaceutical applications. However, cultivation of A. platensis on POME to produce economically feasible amounts of C-PC has not been well explored. For this, environmental, nutritional, and cultivation modes (batch, semi-continuous) were varied to optimize C-PC productivity when cultivated at various POME concentrations. Arthrospira platensis was found to grow well on POME. Highest biomass and C-PC concentrations were found on 30-100% POME. Central composite rotatable design (CCRD) response surface methodology demonstrated that C-PC productivity was influenced by urea addition at the optimum salinity. The highest C-PC productivity was found on 100% POME during semi-continuous cultivation, while the addition of phosphorus and urea did not significantly improve C-PC productivity. By applying semi-continuous cultivation with 50% POME at the first stage and 100% POME at the second stage, a similarly high C-PC productivity (4.08 ± 1.3 mg L −1 day −1) was achieved as compared with (artificial) Zarrouk medium during batch cultivation. We conclude that, when using a two-stage semi-continuous cultivation process, A. platensis can produce economically feasible amounts of C-PC when cultivated on 100% POME.
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