Bioconversion of Cheese Whey and Food By-Products by Phaeodactylum tricornutum into Fucoxanthin and n-3 Lc-PUFA through a Biorefinery Approach

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of utilizing three food wastes: cheese whey (CW), beet molasses (BM), and corn steep liquor (CSL) as alternative nutrient sources for the cultivation of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, a promising source of polyunsaturated eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and the carotenoid fucoxanthin. The CW media tested did not significantly impact the growth rate of P. tricornutum; however, CW hydrolysate significantly enhances cell growth. BM in cultivation medium enhances biomass production and fucoxanthin yield. The optimization of the new food waste medium was conducted through the application of a response surface methodology (RSM) using hydrolyzed CW, BM, and CSL as factors. The results showed a significant positive impact of these factors (p < 0.005), with an optimized biomass yield of 2.35 g L−1 and a fucoxanthin yield of 3.64 mg L−1 using a medium composed of 33 mL L−1 of CW, 2.3 g L−1 of BM, and 2.24 g L−1 of CSL. The experimental results reported in this study showed that some food by-products from a biorefinery perspective could be utilized for the efficient production of fucoxanthin and other high-added-value products such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Got Whey? Sustainability Endpoints for the Dairy Industry through Resource Biorecovery

“…Mixotrophic microalgae can display a combination of photolithoautotrophic and/or chemoorganoheterotrophic regimes. Hence, they are able to grow through using both the carbon dioxide produced via photosynthesis and organic carbon sources (e.g., cheese whey, permeate, second cheese whey, and volatile fatty acids resulting from cheese whey acidogenic fermentation) [36,37,181].…”

“…The valorization of cheese whey takes place after initial spray drying when both acid and sweet whey can be transformed into precursors for value-added products in the food, nutrition, and pharmaceutical industries [35] and as a substrate for the cultivation of microalgae biomass [36,37]. Salty whey has limited use in the industry due to its high salinity [38].…”