CARBON-DIOXIDE FIXATION AND POLYUNSATURATED FATTY-ACID PRODUCTION BY THE RED ALGA PORPHYRIDIUM-CRUENTUM

Focusing on CO2 fixation, photoautotrophic cultivation of the red alga Porphyridium cruentum was investigated by means of a batch culture un der a 5% CO2-enriched atmosphere. The alg-al growth kinetics was succe ssfully described with a logistic model, and simulation of a continuou s culture under the optimum growth conditions (30 degrees C, 12 klux a nd 1.18 g-cells/L) showed that the algal CO2-fixation activity could r each 0.66 g-CO2/(L X d). Under the same growth conditions, eicosapenta enoic acid (20:5 n-3, EPA) and arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6, ARA) yields were similarly calculated to be 3.6 mg-EPA/(L X d) and 6.5 mg-ARA/(L X d), respectively.