LAUSR

Huge amounts of wastewater are generated during food process, and usually contain high nutrient concentration. The present study investigated the feasibility of dairy and poultry wastewaters as growth media for Chlorella sp. T4 cultivation for concomitant nutrient removal and biomass propagation for biofuel production. Microalgae Chlorella sp. T4 was cultivated in poultry and dairy wastewater collected at different stage of wastewater treatment to study the growth, physiological respond, nutrient removal efficiency and biochemical composition. The strains showed phycoremediation potential resulting to high nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency in dairy and poultry wastewater ranging from 85–95% and 35–93%, respectively. High biomass yield of 1.28 ± 0.1 g L−1 was obtained in poultry wastewater compared to 0.85 ± 0.02 g L−1 obtained in dairy wastewater. The biomass contained significant amounts of lipids (16.2–25.7 % Dry wt.), carbohydrates (20.7–33.1 % Dry wt.), and proteins (24.5–34.6 % Dry wt.), regardless of the wastewater type. The fatty acid analysis revealed that palmitic (16:0), oleic (18:1), and linoleic (18:2) acids were the major fatty acids accumulated by Chlorella sp. T4 when cultivated in poultry and dairy wastewater. Biodiesel properties of lipids extracted from the cell grown in poultry and dairy wastewater complied with most of the international standards by ASTM D6751 and EN 14214. The results of this study revealed that Chlorella sp. T4 is a potential candidate for dairy and poultry wastewater treatment, with a significant accumulation of lipid, protein and carbohydrates for use in biofuel production.