Abstract

Chlorella vulgaris is a photosynthetic unicellular green eukaryotic alga. It is widely used as food additive and in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. It contains proteins, carotenoids, lipids, immunostimulator compounds, polysaccharides, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. The present study was conducted to investigate five different synthetic media such as BG-11, Chu- 10, Bold’s Basal medium, Allen, and Kuhl’s medium on the optical density, cell count, chlorophyll-a content, protein content and carbohydrate content of Chlorella vulgaris. Kuhl’s medium had the best growth followed by Allen, BG-11, Bold’s Basal medium, and the Chu- 10 medium. The highest optical density, cell count, and chlorophyll- a content were obtained at pH 12 as compared with a control. NH4Cl was the best nitrogen source for Chlorella vulgaris which was cultivated in Kuhl’s medium as compared with KNO3 as a control. Aeration of algal culture and using sunlight as a light source increased growth and chlorophyll-a content over nonaerated culture using artificial light.

Key words: Chlorella vulgaris, growth conditions, chlorophyll- a content, nitrogen sources, aeration.