Lipid and carbohydrate trigger in microalgae in response to salt stress for biofuel production Kaur Dalveer1,*, Taggar Monica Sachdeva2, Kalia Anu3 1Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Mohali-140 306, Punjab 2Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab 3Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab *Corresponding author: dalveer0701@gmail.com
Online published on 1 July, 2020. Abstract The effect of different salt concentrations, viz. 0.03, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 0.3 and 0.5 M NaCl on the growth and biochemical constituents of five microalgae (MA-1, MA-2, MA-3, MA-4 and MA-5) isolated from the waterlogged areas of district Muktsar, Punjab was studied. The growth (Absorbance at 600nm) and viable cell count (cfu mL−1) of all the isolates decreased with an increase in sodium chloride concentrations. Little or no growth was observed, when these isolates were grown in medium supplemented with 0.3 and 0.5M sodium chloride, respectively. The isolate MA-1 showed significantly high growth (A600nm) and viable cell count of 3.26 and 175.2×105 cfu mL−1 at 0.03M salt concentration. The lipid and carbohydrate content of all microalgal isolates increased on supplementation of sodium chloride up to 0.1 M concentration and declined thereafter. The maximum total carbohydrate and lipid content of 20.34 and 18.41 per cent, respectively was observed in isolate MA-1 at 5 and 7 day after culturing (DAC) with addition of 0.1 M sodium chloride in the culture medium. The total soluble protein and chlorophyll content of all the isolates decreased with high sodium chloride concentration in the culture medium. Higher lipid and carbohydrate content observed in isolate MA-1 at high salt concentration (0.1M) revealed that this isolate can be potentially used for biofuel production. Top Keywords Biofuels, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Microalgae, Salt stress. Top |