Effect of whey powder on the biomass, biochemical, and pigment composition of <i>Haematococcus pluvialis</i> and <i>Scenedesmus</i> sp.

This study investigated the effects of whey powder (WP), used as a nutrient medium, on the biomass production, biochemical composition, and pigment content of Haematococcus pluvialis and Scenedesmus sp. The experimental design was set up with four groups and all groups had three replicates. The control group (C) contained only Bold Basal Medium with 3-fold nitrogen and vitamins (3N-BBM+V) without WP. The second experimental group was formulated as 3N-BBM+V with 5 g L-1 WP (W5), the third group as 3N-BBM+V with 10 g L-1 WP (W10), and the fourth group as 3N-BBM+V with 15 g L-1 WP (W15). In this study, the highest mean biomass was obtained as 0.88 g L-1 for H. pluvialis (WP10) and 0.45 g L-1 for Scenedesmus sp. (WP15). The maximum total lipid productivities of H. pluvialis and Scenedesmus sp. were recorded as 43% (w/w, dry weight) in the WP5 group and 66% (w/w, dry weight) in the WP10 group, respectively. Under mixotrophic conditions, the highest protein contents were obtained in WP10 for H. pluvialis (20.94 mg mL(-1)) and in WP15 for Scenedesmus sp. (44.94 mg mL(-1)). Astaxanthin, carotenoid and phycocyanin productivity of H. pluvialis and Scenedesmus sp. was highly determined under mixotrophic conditions. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that the supplementation of the culture medium with whey powder significantly enhances both biomass production and biochemical composition. Therefore, whey powder can be recommended as an effective supplementary nutrient source for the cultivation of these microalgae.

Journal

IRANIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES SCIENCES

Year

2026

Volume

25

Issue

2

Pages

349-366

ISSN

1562-2916

DOI

10.22092/ijfs.2026.135189

WoS UID

WOS:001694789100008