Japanese Researchers Discover Microalgae Culture Method

A research group at The University of Tokyo's Faculty of Agriculture has found a way to grow the microalga Botryococcus braunii in culture making it possible to harness the large amounts of hydrocarbons that it can produce as raw materials for biofuel production.

B. braunii has been a target of research with potential application in biofuel production owing to its ability to efficiently accumulate hydrocarbons. Conventional way of recovering these valuable hydrocarbons generally requires pretreatment steps such as drying or heating of wet algae followed by extraction using organic solvents.

The Japanese research group reported in the open-access journal Plos One that more than 90 percent of the accumulated hydrocarbons in B. braunii could be readily extracted without such pretreatments. The group accomplsihed this by simply mixing intact wet algal culture with an organic solvent after culturing the freshwater alga in media with a salinity corresponding to 25 percent seawater for a certain period.

Continuous recovery of hydrocarbons from B. braunii maintained in the media can prevent the problem of contamination associated with conventional large-scale extraction system and potentially reduce the energy and cost required for hydrocarbon production.