Desalination concentrate (DC) is a potential medium for microalgal cultivation since it contains an abundance of mineral salts. In this study, the feasibility of growing Chlorella vulgaris with DC was evaluated and the influence of DC concentration on the growth, biomass productivity, and biochemical composition was assessed. Media comprised of DC mixed with bold basal medium (BBM) in different concentrations were prepared for microalga cultivation. A sequential statistical methodology, comprising fractional factorial design and response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to enhance the biomass production. The growth of C. vulgaris was promoted with 75 % BBM+25 % DC compared with the BBM control. C. vulgaris biomass production (0.59 g L −1 ) was observed with 75 % BBM+25 % DC with optimal concentrations of sodium nitrate (0.09 g L −1 ), monobasic potassium phosphate (0.014 g L −1 ), and micronutrient solution (0.20 mL L −1 ). The gradual increase of DC had a strong effect on the biochemical composition of C. vulgaris. Carbohydrate fiber and protein contents were estimated to be 14.4 and 51.3 %, respectively, when the microalgae were cultivated in 75 % BBM +25 % DC. The lipid content (12.5 %) of C. vulgaris cells was highest at the optimized BBM DC concentrations. When grown in the BBM control and optimized BBM+DC media, C. vulgaris produced lipids rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (C18:3 ω3) and monounsaturated fatty acids (C18:1). These results indicated that DC is a feasible alternative for the mass cultivation of C. vulgaris.

The commercial enzyme (E.C. = 3.2.1.23) from Kluyveromyces lactis (liquid) and Aspergillus oryzae (lyophilized) was investigated for its hydrolysis potential in lactose substrate, UHT milk, and skimmed milk at different concentrations (0.7; 1.0 and 1.5%), pH values (5.0; 6.0; 6.5 and 7.0), and temperature (30; 35; 40 and 55 ºC). High hydrolysis rates were observed for the enzyme from K. lactis at pH 7.0 and 40 ºC, and from A. oryzae at pH 5.0 and 55 ºC. The enzyme from K. lactis showed significantly higher hydrolysis rates when compared to A. oryzae. The effect of temperature and β-galactosidase concentration on the lactose hydrolysis in UHT milk was higher than in skimmed milk, for all temperatures tested. With respect to the thermal stability, a decrease in hydrolysis rate was observed at pH 6.0 at 35 ºC for K. lactis enzyme, and at pH 6.0 at 55 ºC for the enzyme from A. oryzae. This study investigate the hydrolysis of β-galactosidase in UHT and skimmed milk. The knowledge about the characteristics of the β-galactosidase from K. lactis and A. oryzae enables to use it most efficiently to control the enzyme concentration, temperature, and pH in many industrial processes and product formulations.Keywords: UHT and skimmed milk; β-galactosidase; enzymatic characterization; lactose intolerance; enzyme activity.Practical Application: Lactose hydrolysis potential and thermal stability of commercial β-galactosidase.β-galactosidase hydrolysis in processed milk Food Sci. Technol, Campinas, 36(1): 159-165,

Desalination wastewater, which contains large amount of salt waste, might lead to severely environmental pollution. This study evaluated the effect of dilution rate (0.1 ≤ ≤ 0.3 day −1 ) on microalgal biomass productivity, lipid content, and fatty acid profile under steady-state condition of Chlorella vulgaris supplemented with concentrated desalination. Continuous culture was conducted for 55 days. Results show that the biomass productivity ( ) varied from 57 to 126 mg L −1 d −1 (dry mass) when the dilution rate ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 day −1 . At lowest dilution rate ( = 0.1 day −1 ), the continuous culture regime ensured the highest values of maximum biomass concentration ( = 570 ± 20 mL −1 ) and protein content (52%). Biomass lipid content was an increasing function of . The most abundant fatty acids were the palmitic (25.3 ± 0.6%) at = 0.1 day −1 and the gamma-linolenic acid (23.5 ± 0.1%) at = 0.3 day −1 ones. These fatty acids present 14 to 18 carbons in the carbon chain, being mainly saturated and polyunsaturated, respectively. Overall, the results show that continuous culture is a powerful tool to investigate the cell growth kinetics and physiological behaviors of the algae growing on desalination wastewater.

Microalgae have been used widely as a biological source for several industries, such as biofuel, pharmaceutical and food. Recently, the agricultural industry has also began using microalgae as an alternative source for sustainable products to replace agrochemicals. Due to the lack of scientific articles in this research area, the objective of this study was to search for applications of microalgae and to characterize its use in agriculture using the patent documents available in three patent databases, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), European Patent Office (EPO) and Brazilian Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The search was carried out using the keyword “microalgae” and applying the filter for International Patent Classification (IPC) code “A01N” which corresponds to patents related to agriculture and cultivation of microalgae. Our patent database search returned 669 documents and 132 patents were selected for the study based on their abstracts. The first patent was registered in 1982 and described the use of microalgae Chlorella extract as a plant growth promoter. After that, no patent was registered for 15 years. From 2005 to 2014, only seven patents were found. However, the scenario changed from 2015 when the number of patents increased mainly in the United States, China and Europe. The patent analysis showed several applications for microalgae in the agricultural sector, such as plant growth promotion, biofertilization, plant disease control, weed management, and post-harvest quality. This review confirmed the increasing interest in microalgae-derived products in agriculture and the value of using patent documents to assess innovative areas.

In this study, we investigated the outdoor production of a microalga C. vulgaris cultured in two different media under autotrophic cultivation: Bold Basal Medium (BBM) as the control and BBM supplemented with desalination concentrate (BBM + DC) using open raceway ponds (8 m 2). Data were collected on the growth, biomass productivity and biochemical composition. The culture developed in BBM + DC showed a biomass productivity of 6.8 g m-2 day-1 , while for the BBM control it was 8.5 g m-2 day-1. Intracellular protein was the main algal component (~28.6%), followed by carbohydrate + fiber (~26.0%) and lipids (~5.0%). The predominant fatty acids were mainly α-linolenic (~19.5%), palmitic (~16.5%) and linoleic (~10.0%) acids. This study demonstrates the feasibility of culturing C. vulgaris in an alternative medium based on DC in order to valorize the desalination wastewater through its application to algal mass production.