One-step co-cultivation and flocculation of microalgae with filamentous fungi to valorize starch wastewater into high-value biomass

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2022-10, Vol.361, p.127625-127625, Article 127625
• Main Authors: Wang, Shi-Kai, Yang, Kun-Xiao, Zhu, Yu-Rong, Zhu, Xin-Yu, Nie, Da-Fang, Jiao, Ning, Angelidaki, Irini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomass harvesting; Filamentous fungi; Lipid; Microalgae; Protein; Starch wastewater treatment
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127625

[Display omitted] •The synergistic effects of algae and fungi greatly enhanced the pollutants removal.•The protein and lipid yield were significantly improved in the co-culture process.•Simultaneous culture and harvesting of cells was achieved in an integrated process. A novel method of one-step co-cultivation and harvesting of microalgae and fungi, for efficient starch wastewater treatment and high-value biomass production was developed. By combination of Aspergillus oryzae and Chlorella pyrenoidosa, nutrients in wastewater could be converted to useful microbial biomass, while the wastewater was purified. Moreover, the microalgae C. pyrenoidosa could gradually be encapsulated in fungal pellets which promoted the biomass harvesting. The free algal cells could be completely harvested by fungal pellets within 72 h. The synergistic effects between them greatly improved the removal efficiencies of main pollutants as the removal efficiency of COD, TN, and TP reached 92.08, 83.56, and 96.58 %, respectively. In addition, the final biomass concentration was higher than that of individual cultures. The protein and lipid concentration was also significantly improved and reached 1.92 and 0.99 g/L, respectively. This study provides a simple and efficient strategy for simultaneous wastewater treatment and high-value biomass production.