Photoautotrophic growth of microalgae for omega-3 fatty acid production

摘要

The invention provides methods of cultivating microalgae photoautotrophically outdoors to prepare concentrated microalgae products containing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) docosahexaenoic acid, two long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish oil that are very important for human and animal health. It also provides concentrated microalgae products containing EPA and DHA and purified lipid products containing EPA and DHA purified from microalgae. One embodiment provides a concentrated microalgae composition prepared by a process comprising: (a) cultivating microalgae photoautotrophically outdoors in open ponds under filtered sunlight in continuous or batch mode at a dilution rate of less than 35% per day; (b) harvesting the microalgae in exponential phase when cell number is increasing at a rate of at least 20% of maximal rate; and (c) concentrating the microalgae; wherein at least 40% by weight of lipids in the microalgae are in the form of glycodiacylglycerides, phosphodiacylglycerides, or a combination thereof and at least 5% by weight of fatty acids are DHA, EPA, or a combination thereof.