article · Environmental Science and Pollution Research
This study evaluated the effect of heavy metal stress on enhancing biodiesel production using the green microalga Chlorella vulgaris. Cultures were grown for 13 days under exposure to varying concentrations of manganese, cobalt, and zinc. Treatments with specific concentrations of these metals caused significant increases in algal lipid accumulation compared to control conditions, with the highest yield reached under three micromolar cobalt nitrate. Manganese chloride exposure led to the highest proportion of saturated fatty acids, predominantly palmitic acid. Cobalt treatments also provided the greatest stimulation in overall energy compounds, including lipids and carbohydrates. Evaluations based on fatty acid methyl ester compositions indicated that the predicted biodiesel fuel properties complied with international standards.
Microalgae offer a renewable source for biofuel, but increasing their lipid content is essential to make fuel extraction viable. Demonstrating that controlled heavy metal stress stimulates lipid and energy storage in Chlorella vulgaris provides a potential method to boost yields while ensuring the resulting fuel characteristics align with existing international quality specifications.
This research is relevant to biofuel producers and biotechnology developers seeking to optimise algal feedstock yields. The findings represent early-stage, laboratory-based research focused on cultivation conditions and property predictions. Practical commercialisation would require further testing at scale to evaluate the feasibility, economics, and environmental management of using heavy metals during bulk algal cultivation.
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The green microalga Chlorella vulgaris was used as a test organism during this study for evaluation of the impact of different heavy metal stress, Mn<sup>2+</sup>, Co<sup>2+</sup>, and Zn<sup>2+</sup>, on enhancing the biodiesel production. The algal cultures were grown for 13 days under heavy metal stress after which were subjected to estimation of growth, some primary metabolites, lipid, and fatty acid profiles. The maximum lipid accumulation (283.30 mg/g CDW) was recorded in the algal culture treated with 3 µM cobalt nitrate. Application of 2 mM manganese chloride; 1, 2, and 3 μM cobalt nitrate; and 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 mM zinc sulfate caused highly significant increases in the lipid contents amounting to 183.8, 191.4, 230.6, 283.3, 176.3, 226.0, and 212.1 mg/g CDW, respectively, in comparison to control (153.4 mg/g CDW). The maximum proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) (64.44%) was noted in the culture treated with 6 mM MnCl<sub>2</sub> due to the existence of palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), and pentadecylic acid (C15:0) which are represented by 53.59%, 5.96%, and 1.37%, respectively, of the total FAs. Relative increase in energy compound (REEC) showed that 1, 2, and 3 µM Co<sup>2+</sup> lead to the highest stimulation in lipid and carbohydrate contents to 0.207, 0.352, and 0.329 × 10<sup>3</sup>%, respectively. Empirical formulas were used for the assessment of biodiesel fuel properties based on FAME composition. The estimated properties met the prescribed international standard criteria.
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DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33538-w
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