Research Note

Research Journal of Agricultural Sciences 2010, 1(4): 468-469

Potential of Different Light Intensities on the Productivity of Spirulina platensis under Agra Conditions
Samuel G Singh, Mohammad Yasin Sofi and Shikha Masih
Department of Botany, St. Johns College, Agra-282 002, Uttar Pradesh, India
e-mail: myasin698@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The growth of test alga Spirulina platensis a cyanobacterium is greatly affected by one of the most important climatic factors i e light. For the successful cultivation of Spirulina platensis with maximum biomass, the present study has been undertaken to prescribe the optimal light intensity. So cultures were kept to different places having different intensities of light. These places were (1) Laboratory, 1800 100 L (2) Green house, 1600 100 L (3) Outdoor 200 100 L. Natural light has been employed. Productivity has been measured in terms of dried mass (g/l). The cultures which were kept under green house, highest dried mass (0.623g/l) was recorded, therefore 1600 100 L of light intensity was found to be best. Key words: Spirulina platensis, Biomass, Single cell protein The microscopic blue green alga, Spirulina platensis (single cell protein) is commercially produced worldwide for its proteins, vitamins and iron rich compounds. For biomass production, it is very necessary to evaluate the optimal values of the factors that affect the productivity, light is one of them. Being photoautotrophic, the light is an important factor for the survival of the test alga, Spirulina platensis, so that it can make its own food in the presence of optimal light. But the requirement of light intensity for growth is different for different organisms. Spirulina also requires a specific range of intensity for its growth. Zarrouks (1966) did the first detailed study on the response of Spirulina maxima to light. In this experiment he reached to the conclusion that growth of alga is saturated at the level of 15-30KLux. In another study, Khan and Srivastava (2003), determined the photoperiod for highest content of protein. But the present study has been undertaken to demonstrate the appropriate light intensity under the climatic conditions of Agra to get maximum biomass of this valuable alga. in green house, where light was 1600 100 L. Last set was placed in outdoor that have highest light intensity, i e 200 100 L. Digital Luxmeter was used to calibrate light intensity. The productivity of the culture was calculated in terms of dried mass (g/l). During the experiment, agitation was done twice a day for two minutes each. Harvesting carried out by filtering the algal culture through metal sieve of 500m after 25 days and obtained slurry was sun dried to measure the weight.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

All photoautotrophic organisms i e photosynthetic bacteria, cyanobacteria and higher plants, are able to convert light energy into chemical energy by means of photosynthesis. But the requirement of light varies from organism to organism. The cultures kept at different places of different intensities, in this respect for optimum growth, Spirulina has shown specific light intensity (Table 1). Maximum growth was recorded in the culture that was placed in green house viz under 1600 100 L of light intensity. This intensity range helped both in survival and stimulates the growth of cultures and showed maximum dried mass, 0.263 (g/l). Venkataraman (1983) reported the optimal growth of Spirulina on CFTRI medium following a 14 : 10 hour light : dark cycle at the light intensity of 1600 100 L. The photoperiod of the experiment carried in winter season was different with that of Venkataraman (1983). Daytime in winter was shorter than dark time, and light was diffused as necessary for Spirulina cultivation. The cultures that were kept in outdoor, where the light intensity was recorded maximum, lowest dried mass 0.267 (g/l) was observed. The intensity of 200 100 L did not favour the growth of Spirulina platensis due to photoinhibition. Photoinhibition is defined as

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Spirulina platensis was obtained from Centre for Conservation and Utilization of Blue Green Algae, IARI, New Delhi and used as test organism. Experiments were carried out for the period of one month during October-November 2009. Cultivation was done on CFTRI medium (Venkataraman, 1983) in 2.0 litres of conical flask in triplicate. One litre of each contains freshly prepared medium and 50ml of Spirulina inoculum. These flasks were exposed at different light intensities at different places. Three sets of experiments were carried and each set contained three flasks. First set was kept in laboratory, where the light intensity was 1800 100 L. Second set was kept

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Singh et al. loss of photosynthetic ability due to the damage of photo flux (PFD) in excess of that required to saturated photosynthesis. The phenomenon of photoinhibition has been studied extensively and is well documented in algae and higher plants (Critchey 1981, Greer et al. 1986, Oquist 1987).

Table 1 Spirulina productivity at different places and light intensities (g/l) Average Dried S. No. Dried Mass(g/l) Mass g / l st nd rd 1 2 3 0.512 1 0.512 0.517 0.509 2 3 0.635 0.263 0.622 0.240 0.614 0.298 0.623 0.267

Place Laboratory Green House Out Door

Light Intensity 1800 100 L 1600100 L 200100 L

High light intensity causes destruction to that culture whose optical density was less and normal growth was recorded at the same intensity when optical density was maximum, viz optical density of the culture is directly proportional to the light intensity i e higher the optical density higher requirement of light and low optical density, lower requirement of light. In the last set of experiment i e the culture which were placed inside the laboratory given neither maximum nor minimum production. It showed the

higher production than that of outdoor culture and gave lower production than those of green house culture. The dried mass was 0.512g/ l. The present experiment concludes that the light is an important factor for the growth of Spirulina platensis. The results infer that Spirulina platensis has been produced maximum in amount at the light intensity of 1600 100 L when placed at different levels of light intensities. The result may be useful in optimizing yield from this organism for commercial purpose.

Acknowledgements The authors are very thankful to Prof. F. M. Prasad, Principal of St. Johns College Agra,for providing the lab. Facilities to carry out this work.

LITERATURE CITED
Critichlay C. 1981. Studies on the mechanism of photoinhibition in higher plants. Journal of Plant Physiology 67: 1161 Greer D H, Berry J A and Bjorkman O. 1986. Photoinhibtion of photosynthesis in intact been leaves. Role of light and temperature, requirement for chloroplast protein synthesis during recovery. Planta 168: 253 Khan M A and Srivastava P. 2003. Determination of photoperiod for highest content of protein and comperative biochemistry of 2-strains of Spirulina platensis. Indian Journal of Environmental Science 7(2):155-158 Oquist G. 1987. Environmental stress and photosynthesis. In Biggins, J. (Ed.) Progress in photosynthesis research, Vol. IV. Dordecht : Martinus Nijhoff Venkataraman L V. 1983. Blue Green alga Spirulina platensis Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India Zarrouks C. 1966. Contribution of a letude dune cyanophyceae influence de Divers factures physiques tehemiques, Sur la Croissance et La photosynthese de Spirulina maxima setch et Gardner Geitler. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Paris, France

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