• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.317-322
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• 2011

This study was conducted to develop economical agricultural fertilizer media for the mass culturing of Nannochloropsis oceanica. Specific growth rates of N. oceanica cultured with differing concentrations of commercial compounds, urea fertilizers, and trace elements (Zn, Cu, Co, Mo) were compared with the growth rate in f/2 medium. Among the various added trace elements, $CuSO_4{\cdot}5H_2O$ was most effective for high growth of N. oceanica. The main nitrogen source in the agricultural fertilizers was ammonium, which was unsuitable for the growth of N. oceanica. Thus, the fertilizer at a lower concentration infused with $NaNO_3$ as a nitrogen source was more effective than fertilizer at higher concentrations. In this study, the growth of N. oceanica cultured with an agricultural fertilizer medium composed of compound fertilizer (41.7 mg/L), urea fertilizer (34.4 mg/L), $NaNO_3$ (150 mg/L), and $CuSO_4{\cdot}5H_2O$ (0.0588 mg/L) was similar to that of N. oceanica cultured in f/2 medium.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.61-71
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• 2015

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) produced from marine organisms is widely used in nutraceuticals. Monodus subterraneus and Nannochloropsis oceanica, which are representative freshwater and marine Eustigmatophyceae, respectively, are known to have a high content of protein and lipid, particularly, EPA. In this study, to compare the growth and nutritional composition of M. subterraneus and N. oceanica, they were cultured in autotrophic and mixotrophic conditions with JM and f/2 medium, respectively, at $25^{\circ}C$. In addition, $80{\mu}mol\;photons\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$ with 24-hour and 12-hour light was provided, with the addition of 2% glucose to the medium for the mixotrophic culture. With regard to growth, M. subterraneus showed 10 times higher biomass in a mixotrophic culture than in an autotrophic one. However, no significant difference was observed for N. oceanica between the two culture methods. With respect to nutritional composition, M. subterraneus cultured autotrophically had a higher protein and lipid content, particularly EPA, than that cultured mixotrophically, but no significant difference was found in the two cultures of N. oceanica. Furthermore, M. subterraneus cultured autotrophically with continuous light showed higher nutritional composition, particularly EPA, than N. oceanica. In conclusion, the mass culture of freshwater M. subterraneus is much easier and more economical than marine N. oceanica. In addition, production of EPA will be economically improved if mixotrophic culturing of M. subterraneus is first conducted to maximize the biomass, and then secondary autotrophic culturing is performed.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.88-91
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• 2014

In this study, oil as a source of biodiesel from Nannochloropsis oceanica was extracted using organic solvent. The oil extraction yield and efficiency from dry and wet microalgae were investigated. The initial fatty acids content of the N. oceanica was 317.8 mg/g cell showing a high oil content over 30%. The yield from dry microalgae was higher than that from wet microalgae due to the inhibition of water. The yield by chloroform-methanol was the highest and the yield by hexane was the lowest. However, the total fatty acids contents with the chloroform-methanol were 678.7 and 778.2 mg/g oil under dry and wet conditions, respectively. The high oil extraction yield by chloroform-methanol reflected the fact that the extracted oil contained a high level of impurity. The hexane-methanol extraction from dry N. oceanica showed high oil extraction efficiency, 82.6%. The chloroform-methanol extraction under wet condition also showed high efficiency, 88.0%. While the hexane-methanol extraction from dry microalgae is desirable under low drying cost, the chloroform-methanol extraction from wet microalgae is desirable under high drying cost.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.27-34
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• 2023

In this study, microalgal oil was extracted from Nannochloropsis oceanica cultured in an open raceway pond and converted into biodiesel using a solid acid catalyst. Microalgal oil was extracted from two types of microalgae with and without nitrogen starvation using the KOH-solvent extraction method and the fatty acid content and oil extraction yield from each microalgae were compared. The fatty acid content of N. oceanica was 184.8 mg/g cell under basic conditions, and the oil content increased to 340.1 mg/g under nitrogen starvation conditions. Oil extraction yields were 90.8 and 95.4% in the first extraction, and increased to 97.5 and 98.8% after the second extraction. Microalgal oil extracted by KOH-solvent extraction was yellow in color and had reduced viscosity due to chlorophyll removal. In biodiesel conversion using the catalyst SO₄^2-/HZSM-5, solvent-extracted oil showed a FAME content of 4.8%, while KOH-solvent-extracted oil showed a FAME content of 90.4%. Solid acid catalyst application has been made easier by removal of chlorophyll from microalgal oil. The FAME content increased to 96.6% upon distillation, and the oxidation stability increased to 11.07 h with addition of rapeseed biodiesel and 1,000 ppm butylated hydroxyanisole.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2019

The properties of microalgae as bioresources for biodiesel production can be improved by adding nitrogen sources into the culture medium. Thus, Nannochloropsis oceanica CCAP 849/10 was cultured in f/2 media supplemented with five different forms of nitrogen at $0.88mmol-N\;l^{-1}$ each: ammonium bicarbonate ($NH_4HCO_3$), ammonium sulfate ($(NH_4)_2SO_4$), sodium nitrate ($NaNO_3$), ammonium nitrate ($NH_4NO_3$), and urea. The cell density, lipid content, and fatty acid profile of the microalga were determined after 15 days of cultivation. The growth of N. oceanica based on cell number was lowest in the medium with $NH_4NO_3$, and increased significantly in the medium with $NH_4HCO_3$. Cells treated with $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, and $NH_4NO_3$ produced the highest total lipid contents (i.e., 65% and 62% by dry weight, respectively). The fatty acid profiles of the microalga were significantly different in the various nitrogen sources. The major fatty acids detected in cultures supplemented with $NH_4HCO_3$, $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, $NH_4NO_3$, or urea were C14:0, C16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, C20:5, and C22:6. However, the C16:1 content in the $NaNO_3$-supplemented culture was very low. This study highlights that the nitrogen source can strongly influence lipid production in N. oceanica and its fatty acid composition.