DIFFERENTIATION OF BIOMASS COMPOSITION BETWEEN ISOLATED AND COMMERCIAL STRAINS OF MICROALGAE

Biomass produced from the cultivation of microalgae has many potential in producing high value product. Main objective of this research is to investigate the potential of biomass produced by algae from isolated strains and commercialize strains as well as to compare their potential in producing high quality of biomass. Isolated microalgaestrains used were C. sorokiana (UKM 3) and Characium sp. (UKM 1) extracted from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) and commercial strains used were C. vulgaris and Ankistrodesmus sp.. Results shows that the commercial strain Ankistrodesmus sp has a highest biomass’s weight which is 3.0 g/L, followed by another type of commercial strain, C. vulgaris which is at 2.72g/L and the other two types of isolated strains, C.sorokiniana and Characium sp. both at 2.52g/L and 2.27g/L respectively. For the biomass composition, the highest concentration of protein was found in locally isolated strain, Characium sp. with concentration of 0.52g/L, while for carbohydrates and lipid were found highest in commercial strain, C. vulgaris with concentration at 0.27g/L and 2.07g/L respectively