Recycling nutrients from anaerobic digestates for the cultivation of Phaeodactylum tricornutum: A feasibility study

Daniel McDowell; Jaimie TA Dick; Lawrence Eagling; Matthew  Julius; Gary N Sheldrake; Katerina Theodoridou; Pamela J Walsh

doi:10.1016/j.algal.2020.101893

Recycling nutrients from anaerobic digestates for the cultivation of Phaeodactylum tricornutum: A feasibility study

Daniel McDowell, Jaimie TA Dick, Lawrence Eagling, Matthew Julius, Gary N Sheldrake, Katerina Theodoridou, Pamela J Walsh

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Abstract

The valorisation of Anaerobic digestion (AD) waste streams into algal biomass to produce a protein alternative to soybeans could have significant commercial and environmental value. It has the benefit of alleviating the pressure of disposal of nutrient-rich digestate that is rich in N, P and trace metals, while potentially reducing the cost of microalgae production. Currently, the use of soybean protein in animal feed has significant negative environmental issues and high carbon footprint associated with its use. This study investigates three types of AD to grow Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin microalgae. The results found that the crude protein in all concentrations of CW and FW digestates were found to produce a significantly higher concentration of crude protein in comparison to the F/2 control. In addition, CW 1% and PW 1% formulations were found to have favourable fatty acid profiles, which has significant health benefits in the livestock industry. There was no significant difference in the total fatty acids (TFA) found in CW 1% and PW 1% digestates compared to the F/2 control, which was in the range of 243.4 to 269.4mg/g (dry weight). The other formulations produced a significantly lower (p< 0.05) concentration of TFA compared to the control. CW 1% was found to be richer in omega-3, Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), compared to PW 1%, however, no significant difference was found between the EPA concentration of CW 1% and the F/2 control. Overall, in terms of highest TFA and crude protein, CW 1% digestate was found to perform the best out of all the digestates tested, and outperformed the F/2 control in terms of crude protein. The P. tricornutum grown in digestate was also found to bioaccumulate higher levels of calcium. P. tricornutum grown in CW 1% digestate could offer an alternative viable locally grown protein source for the animal feed industry, with the added advantage of being rich in EPA and calcium.

Original language	English
Article number	101893
Journal	Algal Research
Volume	48
Early online date	11 May 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2020.101893
Publication status	Published - Jun 2020

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Recycling Nutrients from Anaerobic Digestates for the Cultivation of Phaeodactylum tricornutum: A Feasibility study
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/,which permits distribution and reproduction for noncommercial purposes, provided the author and source are cited.
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Pamela Walsh
- pamela.walshqub.acuk
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - Senior Lecturer
- Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
Person: Academic

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@article{6c0ef56dcfaa45068d02babae2408eb7,

title = "Recycling nutrients from anaerobic digestates for the cultivation of Phaeodactylum tricornutum: A feasibility study",

abstract = "The valorisation of Anaerobic digestion (AD) waste streams into algal biomass to produce a protein alternative to soybeans could have significant commercial and environmental value. It has the benefit of alleviating the pressure of disposal of nutrient-rich digestate that is rich in N, P and trace metals, while potentially reducing the cost of microalgae production. Currently, the use of soybean protein in animal feed has significant negative environmental issues and high carbon footprint associated with its use. This study investigates three types of AD to grow Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin microalgae. The results found that the crude protein in all concentrations of CW and FW digestates were found to produce a significantly higher concentration of crude protein in comparison to the F/2 control. In addition, CW 1% and PW 1% formulations were found to have favourable fatty acid profiles, which has significant health benefits in the livestock industry. There was no significant difference in the total fatty acids (TFA) found in CW 1% and PW 1% digestates compared to the F/2 control, which was in the range of 243.4 to 269.4mg/g (dry weight). The other formulations produced a significantly lower (p< 0.05) concentration of TFA compared to the control. CW 1% was found to be richer in omega-3, Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), compared to PW 1%, however, no significant difference was found between the EPA concentration of CW 1% and the F/2 control. Overall, in terms of highest TFA and crude protein, CW 1% digestate was found to perform the best out of all the digestates tested, and outperformed the F/2 control in terms of crude protein. The P. tricornutum grown in digestate was also found to bioaccumulate higher levels of calcium. P. tricornutum grown in CW 1% digestate could offer an alternative viable locally grown protein source for the animal feed industry, with the added advantage of being rich in EPA and calcium. ",

author = "Daniel McDowell and Dick, {Jaimie TA} and Lawrence Eagling and Matthew Julius and Sheldrake, {Gary N} and Katerina Theodoridou and Walsh, {Pamela J}",

year = "2020",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.algal.2020.101893",

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journal = "Algal Research",

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AU - McDowell, Daniel

AU - Dick, Jaimie TA

AU - Eagling, Lawrence

AU - Julius, Matthew

AU - Sheldrake, Gary N

AU - Theodoridou, Katerina

AU - Walsh, Pamela J

PY - 2020/6

Y1 - 2020/6

N2 - The valorisation of Anaerobic digestion (AD) waste streams into algal biomass to produce a protein alternative to soybeans could have significant commercial and environmental value. It has the benefit of alleviating the pressure of disposal of nutrient-rich digestate that is rich in N, P and trace metals, while potentially reducing the cost of microalgae production. Currently, the use of soybean protein in animal feed has significant negative environmental issues and high carbon footprint associated with its use. This study investigates three types of AD to grow Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin microalgae. The results found that the crude protein in all concentrations of CW and FW digestates were found to produce a significantly higher concentration of crude protein in comparison to the F/2 control. In addition, CW 1% and PW 1% formulations were found to have favourable fatty acid profiles, which has significant health benefits in the livestock industry. There was no significant difference in the total fatty acids (TFA) found in CW 1% and PW 1% digestates compared to the F/2 control, which was in the range of 243.4 to 269.4mg/g (dry weight). The other formulations produced a significantly lower (p< 0.05) concentration of TFA compared to the control. CW 1% was found to be richer in omega-3, Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), compared to PW 1%, however, no significant difference was found between the EPA concentration of CW 1% and the F/2 control. Overall, in terms of highest TFA and crude protein, CW 1% digestate was found to perform the best out of all the digestates tested, and outperformed the F/2 control in terms of crude protein. The P. tricornutum grown in digestate was also found to bioaccumulate higher levels of calcium. P. tricornutum grown in CW 1% digestate could offer an alternative viable locally grown protein source for the animal feed industry, with the added advantage of being rich in EPA and calcium.

AB - The valorisation of Anaerobic digestion (AD) waste streams into algal biomass to produce a protein alternative to soybeans could have significant commercial and environmental value. It has the benefit of alleviating the pressure of disposal of nutrient-rich digestate that is rich in N, P and trace metals, while potentially reducing the cost of microalgae production. Currently, the use of soybean protein in animal feed has significant negative environmental issues and high carbon footprint associated with its use. This study investigates three types of AD to grow Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin microalgae. The results found that the crude protein in all concentrations of CW and FW digestates were found to produce a significantly higher concentration of crude protein in comparison to the F/2 control. In addition, CW 1% and PW 1% formulations were found to have favourable fatty acid profiles, which has significant health benefits in the livestock industry. There was no significant difference in the total fatty acids (TFA) found in CW 1% and PW 1% digestates compared to the F/2 control, which was in the range of 243.4 to 269.4mg/g (dry weight). The other formulations produced a significantly lower (p< 0.05) concentration of TFA compared to the control. CW 1% was found to be richer in omega-3, Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), compared to PW 1%, however, no significant difference was found between the EPA concentration of CW 1% and the F/2 control. Overall, in terms of highest TFA and crude protein, CW 1% digestate was found to perform the best out of all the digestates tested, and outperformed the F/2 control in terms of crude protein. The P. tricornutum grown in digestate was also found to bioaccumulate higher levels of calcium. P. tricornutum grown in CW 1% digestate could offer an alternative viable locally grown protein source for the animal feed industry, with the added advantage of being rich in EPA and calcium.

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DO - 10.1016/j.algal.2020.101893

M3 - Article

SN - 2211-9264

VL - 48

JO - Algal Research

JF - Algal Research

M1 - 101893

ER -

Recycling nutrients from anaerobic digestates for the cultivation of Phaeodactylum tricornutum: A feasibility study

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