Quantitative assessment of the major limitations on productivity of Spirulina platensis in open raceways

This work represents an attempt to assess the relative contribution of the factors limiting productivity of Spirulina platensis in open raceways throughout the year. Temperature of the culture during daylight exerted the predominant effect on productivity and elevating the temperature resulted in a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied phycology 1990-09, Vol.2 (3), p.195-206
Main Authors: Richmond, A, Lichtenberg, E, Stahl, B, Vonshak, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
algae
aquaculture
biomass
Brackish
culture systems
environmental factors
Freshwater
raceway culture
Spirulina platensis
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Summary:This work represents an attempt to assess the relative contribution of the factors limiting productivity of Spirulina platensis in open raceways throughout the year. Temperature of the culture during daylight exerted the predominant effect on productivity and elevating the temperature resulted in a significant rise in productivity even in summer. Photoinhibition had a decisive role in summer in determining productivity of Spirulina in open raceways in that growth almost ceased after mid-day. Contamination by other microorganisms, particularly S. minor and Chlorella sp. was estimated to reduce the net biomass yield by at least 15 to 20%, but measures to curtail the establishment of these species in the raceway have been devised. The effect of harvest time during the day on the yield of dry mass was examined: no conclusion could be drawn except in mid-summer, when evening harvesting resulted in a significant increase in the output rate of dry weight over morning harvesting.
ISSN:0921-8971
DOI:10.1007/BF02179776