Mohd Shamzi Mohamed

Effect of different flocculants on the flocculation performance of microalgae, Chaetoceros calcitrans, cells

The possibility of using flocculation technique for the separation of microalgae, Chaetoceros calcitrans, biomass from the culture broth was investigated. The flocculation experiments were conducted in 500 mL beaker using culture broth obtained from 10 L photobioreactor. The harvesting efficiency of 90 and 60% was obtained in flocculation without flocculants conducted for 10 days at 27oC (in light and dark) and 4oC (dark), respectively. Harvesting efficiency higher than 90% with short settling time was achieved by adjusting the culture pH to 10.2 using either sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH). Improved cell viability (> 80%) and settling time with a slight improvement of flocculation efficiency was achieved by the addition of polyelectrolytes flocculant (Magnafloc® LT 27 and LT 25). However, the flocculants were only functioned when the pH of the microalgae culture was pre-adjusted to a certain value that promotes cells entrapment and surface charge neutralization prior to flocculation process. The flocculation efficiency and cell viability obtained in flocculation with Magnafloc® (LT 25 and LT 27) was comparable to that obtained in flocculation with chitosan. When chitosan and Magnafloc® (LT 25 and LT 27) were used as flocculants, the highest flocculation efficiency of C. calcitrans cells was observed at pH 8 and 10.2, respectively. Substantial increased in sedimentation rate was observed with increasing flocculants dosage though the flocculation efficiency and cell viability were not significantly varied.

Comparative Analyses of Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Network on Medium Optimization for Tetraselmis sp. FTC209 Grown under Mixotrophic Condition

Mixotrophic metabolism was evaluated as an option to augment the growth and lipid production of marine microalga Tetraselmis sp. FTC 209. In this study, a five-level three-factor central composite design (CCD) was implemented in order to enrich the W-30 algal growth medium. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to model the effect of three medium variables, that is, glucose (organic C source), NaNO3 (primary N source), and yeast extract (supplementary N, amino acids, and vitamins) on biomass concentration, X max, and lipid yield, P max/X max. RSM capability was also weighed against an artificial neural network (ANN) approach for predicting a composition that would result in maximum lipid productivity, Prlipid. A quadratic regression from RSM and a Levenberg-Marquardt trained ANN network composed of 10 hidden neurons eventually produced comparable results, albeit ANN formulation was observed to yield higher values of response outputs. Finalized glucose (24.05 g/L), NaNO3 (4.70 g/L), and yeast extract (0.93 g/L) concentration, affected an increase of X max to 12.38 g/L and lipid a accumulation of 195.77 mg/g dcw. This contributed to a lipid productivity of 173.11 mg/L per day in the course of two-week cultivation.

Heterotrophic cultivation of microalgae for production of biodiesel.

High cell density cultivation of microalgae via heterotrophic growth mechanism could effectively address the issues of low productivity and operational constraints presently affecting the solar driven biodiesel production. This paper reviews the progress made so far in the development of commercial-scale heterotrophic microalgae cultivation processes. The review also discusses on patentable concepts and innovations disclosed in the past four years with regards to new approaches to microalgal cultivation technique, improvisation on the process flow designs to economically produced biodiesel and genetic manipulation to confer desirable traits leading to much valued high lipid-bearing microalgae strains.

Kinetics and Optimization of Lipophilic Kojic Acid Derivative Synthesis in Polar Aprotic Solvent Using Lipozyme RMIM and Its Rheological Study

The synthesis of kojic acid derivative (KAD) from kojic and palmitic acid (C16:0) in the presence of immobilized lipase from Rhizomucor miehei (commercially known as Lipozyme RMIM), was studied using a shake flask system. Kojic acid is a polyfunctional heterocycles that acts as a source of nucleophile in this reaction allowing the formation of a lipophilic KAD. In this study, the source of biocatalyst, Lipozyme RMIM, was derived from the lipase of Rhizomucor miehei immobilized on weak anion exchange macro-porous Duolite ES 562 by the adsorption technique. The effects of solvents, enzyme loading, reaction temperature, and substrate molar ratio on the reaction rate were investigated. In one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) experiments, a high reaction rate (30.6 × 10−3 M·min−1) of KAD synthesis was recorded using acetone, enzyme loading of 1.25% (w/v), reaction time of 12 h, temperature of 50 °C and substrate molar ratio of 5:1. Thereafter, a yield of KAD synthesis was optimized via the response surface methodology (RSM) whereby the optimized molar ratio (fatty acid: kojic acid), enzyme loading, reaction temperature and reaction time were 6.74, 1.97% (w/v), 45.9 °C, and 20 h respectively, giving a high yield of KAD (64.47%). This condition was reevaluated in a 0.5 L stirred tank reactor (STR) where the agitation effects of two impellers; Rushton turbine (RT) and pitch-blade turbine (PBT), were investigated. In the STR, a very high yield of KAD synthesis (84.12%) was achieved using RT at 250 rpm, which was higher than the shake flask, thus indicating better mixing quality in STR. In a rheological study, a pseudoplastic behavior of KAD mixture was proposed for potential application in lotion formulation.

Culture Medium Development for Microbial-Derived Surfactants Production—An Overview

Surfactants are compounds that can reduce the surface tension between two different phases or the interfacial tension of the liquid between water and oil, possessing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties. Biosurfactants have traits that have proven to be advantageous over synthetic surfactants, but these compounds do not compete economically with synthetic surfactants. Different alternatives increase the yield of biosurfactants; development of an economical production process and the usage of cheaper substrates during process have been employed. One of the solutions relies on the suitable formulation of a production medium by including alternative raw materials sourced from agro-wastes, hydrocarbons, or by-products of a process might help in boosting the biosurfactant production. Since the nutritional factors required will be different among microorganisms, the establishment of a suitable formulation for biosurfactant production will be challenging. The present review describes various nutrients and elements considered in the formulation of a production medium with an approach focusing on the macronutrient (carbon, nitrogen source, and C/N ratio), minerals, vitamins, metabolic regulators, and salinity levels which may aid in the study of biosurfactant production in the future.

Comparative analyses on medium optimization using one-factor-at-a-time, response surface methodology, and artificial neural network for lysine–methionine biosynthesis by Pediococcus pentosaceus RF-1

ABSTRACT Optimization strategy that encompassed one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT), response surface methodology (RSM), and artificial neural network method was implemented during medium formulation with specific aim for lysine-methionine biosynthesis employing a newly isolated strain of Pediococcus pentosaceus RF-1. OFAT technique was used in the preliminary screening of factors (molasses, nitrogen sources, fish meal, glutamic acid and initial medium pH) before proceeded to optimization study. Implementation of central composite design of experiment subsequently generated 30 experimental runs based on four factors (molasses, fish meal, glutamic acid, and initial medium pH). From RSM analysis, a quadratic polynomial model can be devoted to describing the relationship between various medium components and responses. It also suggested that using molasses (9.86 g/L), fish meal (10.06 g/L), glutamic acid (0.91 g/L), and initial medium pH (5.30) would enhance the biosynthesis of lysine (15.77 g/L) and methionine (4.21 g/L). Alternatively, a three-layer neural network topography at 4-5-2 predicted a further improvement in the biosynthesis of lysine (16.52 g/L) and methionine (4.53 g/L) by using formulation composed of molasses (10.02 g/L), fish meal (18.00 g/L), and glutamic acid (1.17 g/L) with initial medium pH (4.26), respectively.