| Summary: | Cassava processing wastewater (CPW) is a highly polluting, liquid residue of cassava processing, usually discarded or treated anaerobically. However, it can serve as a low-cost culture medium for microalgae. After a preliminary evaluation of the growth of 10 microalgal strains in diluted CPW, the microalgae <i>Haematococcus pluvialis</i> SAG 34−1b and <i>Neochloris (Ettlia) oleoabundans</i> UTEX 1185 were selected for cultivation in CPW without a supply of additional nutrients and evaluated for their growth, lipid production, and nutrients removal. Maximal biomass concentrations of 1.79 g·L<sup>−1</sup> for <i>H. pluvialis</i> and 3.18 g·L<sup>−1</sup> for <i>N. oleoabundans</i> were achieved with 25% CPW medium on the 13th day of growth. The algae <i>H. pluvialis</i> and <i>N. oleoabundans</i> removed 60.80 and 69.16% of the chemical oxygen demand, 51.06 and 58.19% of total nitrate, and 54.68 and 69.84% of phosphate, respectively. On average, lipid productivities reached 0.018 and 0.041 g·L<sup>−1</sup> day<sup>−1</sup> for <i>H. pluvialis</i> and <i>N. oleoabundans,</i> respectively. Therefore, cultivating these microalgae in diluted CPW is a promising treatment for cassava wastewater with simultaneous valuable biomass production.
|
|---|