Influence of Nitrogen Sources on Growth, Hydrocarbon and Fatty Acid Production by Botryococcus braunii

Biomass and hydrocarbon productivities of Botryococcus braunii under the influence of different nitrogen sources, pH and culture age were evaluated. Potassium nitrate was found to be the best source of nitrogen for growth and hydrocarbon yields in B. braunii. Oleic acid and palmitic were found to be the predominant fatty acids produced by the algae B. braunii (LB-572 and SAG 30.81) and they also produced alkyl substituted fatty acids such as 12-methyl hexadecanoic acid, -methyl tetradecanoic acid, -methyl heptadecanoic acid and 25-methyl heptacosanoic acid in trace amounts as identified by GCMS. The algae B. braunii (LB-572 and SAG 30.81) exhibited tolerance to pH in the range of 6.0 to 8.5. The biomass yields of 1.2 and 0.56 g L-1 with 30-35% (w/w) hydrocarbon yields was observed respectively for B. braunii strains LB 572 and SAG 30.81.