Efficient nutrient sequestration and biomolecule production by Chlorella Sorokiniana MSP1 cultivated in industrial wastewater

The generation of industrial wastewater poses a hazardous impact on the environment. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the performance of a new isolate Chlorella sorokiniana MSP1 in sequestering nutrients: nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater to produce protein, carbohydrate, chlorophyll, carotenoid and lipids.Industrial wastewater supplemented with different percentage of BG-11 media i.e. 0 % BG-11 (+N), 5 % BG-11 (+N), 25 % BG-11 (+N) and 50 % BG-11 (+N) were initially treated with microalga Chlorella sorokiniana MSP1.Parameters of microalga growth, nutrient uptake - total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), biomolecule yield such as biomass, protein, carbohydrate, chlorophyll, carotenoid, lipids and fatty acid profile were evaluated.The maximum biomass production of 1067.5 mg L-1, protein 486.34 mg L-1, carbohydrate 188.88 mg L-1, chlorophyll 27.82 mg L-1, carotenoid 25.45 mg L-1 and lipid 305.0 mg L-1 along with polyunsaturated fatty acids (37.69 % DCW) respectively were achieved at 50 % BG-11 (+N) media supplemented wastewater. Simultaneously, maximum total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) uptake was recorded to be 90.15 % and 88.22 % respectively in wastewater supplemented with 50 % BG-11 media. These findings indicate that industrial wastewater can effectively serve as a substitute for major nutrients but it cannot provide all the essential micronutrients required for biomass growth. Therefore, further addition of nutrients in BG-11 medium became necessary. This study further demonstrates upcycling of industrial wastewater with BG-11 media into a high nutrient removal efficiency and production of high value-added biomolecules can be economically viable.