Biotechnology of Fuel Oil and Nutraceuticals from Chlorella vulgaris

Chlorella is a single celled photosynthetic green alga which has potential as a source of bioenergy and some value added biochemical. The organism was obtained by blooming a mixture of cow dung extract and pond water, which was enhanced by aeration using an aquarium pump and artificial illumination with a bank of fluorescent tubes.The isolate was cultured using different animal (goat, pig, poultry, cow and grass cutter) waste extracts.The growth conditions for high biomass and lipid yield were studied for 21days at a temperature of 28±2oC. The growth was monitored both autotrophically and heterotrophically under different conditions viz artificial illumination (aerated and unaerated) with fluorescent tubes mounted in a chamber at a height of about 30cm and natural illumination.The result showed that poultry waste yielded highest cell dry matter and lipid content under natural illumination.The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the elemental composition of Chlorella oil revealed long chain fatty acid between C16-C18 indicating the presence of palmitic acid, linoleic acid and oleic acid with potential of biodiesel production.