Growth of Chlorella in vanillin enriched medium

In this work the effect of different concentration of vanillin on the growth of Chlorella culture was evaluated. Two concentrations of vanillin: 60 mg/L and 300 mg/L in Bold Basal Medium (BBM) were tested and an inoculum from a two month Chlorella sp. (CCBA) culture was used. Vanillin at concentration of 60 mg/L showed to possess stimulating effect on Chlorella growth during 11 days of cultivation. Stimulation of Chlorella started on 3rd day of growth and was accompanied by 87% decrease of vanillin concentration within first 3 days of cultivation and its complete removal from growth media after 7 days. The acceleration of Chlorella growth in vanillin containing medium was detected due to biomass density, up to 1.2 times bigger than in the control culture, but also by measurement of chlorophyll content. Increased amount of chlorophyll content, up to 1.35 times higher than in control, was found between 4th and 11th day of cultivation. The response of Chlorella towards higher concentration of vanillin (300 mg/L) was different when compared to experiments where only 60 mg/L was used. During first 4 days of cultivation, strong inhibition of Chlorella exposed to 300 mg/L vanillin was observed and vanillin concentration maintained at the same initial concentration. During next days, a recovery effect occurred as biomass density and chlorophyll content gradually increased in comparison to the onset of growth and vanillin concentration decreased to 2 % of its initial value. Biomass density measured in Chlorella culture on 11th day was much higher than at the beginning of cultivation but still by 40% smaller than in control and by 50% smaller than in the culture growing in medium with 60 mg/L of vanillin. Chlorophyll content at the end of cultivation constituted 50% of control value and 35% of chlorophyll culture with 60 mg/L vanillin in medium.