High efficiency production of astaxanthin in an airlift photobioreactor

In photobioreactors, photosynthetic microorganisms are exposed to certain light/dark cycles caused by light intensity distribution and mixing inside the photobioreactor. In this study Haematococcus pluvialis was cultivated in an airlift and a bubble column photobioreactor, and the cell growth and astaxanthin production were compared to clarify the effects of liquid circulation.This work was partially supported by the Industrial Technology Research Grant Program in 2005 from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan, for which support the authors wish to express their gratitude