Biomass and Lipid Yield of Locally Isolated Microalgae

Microalgae are known as a potential feedstock for bio-energy production. However not all strains of microalgae can be used to produce lipid. It depends on their lipid content. This study therefore focuses on locally isolated microalgae to determine their potential in lipid production. The freshwater samples were extracted from various locations in Malaysia. After classification, a locally isolated strain referred to as BA due to its similar characteristics as the Botrydiopsisarrhiza species is chosen for comparison with commercial microalgae – Chlorella Fusca (CF) about the growth and lipid content. Besides that, although the results show that CF has higher lipid content than BA strain, BA has higher yield of biomass than CF. The shape of the curve is almost the same and the difference is not so much. It means that the BA strain has a potential in lipid production as well