Pilot scale semicontinuous production of Spirulina biomass in southern Brazil

We evaluated the feasibility of the pilot scale production of Spirulina strain LEB-18 in southern Brazil and assessed the quality of biomass produced in relation to its kinetics characteristic nutritional value, heavy metal content and microbial content. The maximum mean biomass concentration was 1.24 g L-1 and the maximum productivity was 69.16 g m(-2) d(-1). The biomass showed 84.0% digestibility, 86.0% (w/w) protein and 3.3% (w/w) lipid content. Analyses showed that the concentration (mg kg(-1)) of heavy metals (As, 0.28 +/- 0.01; Cd, < 0.05: Hg, < 0.01; and Pb, 0.17) and the microbial load (7.1 x 10(5) colony forming units per gram) were lower than the internationally accepted standards. These results show that pilot scale cultivation of Spirulina LEB-18 in southern Brazil is feasible and that the biomass produced is within the internationally recognized standards for use as a food additive for increasing the nutritional potential of conventional products. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.