OPTIMIZATION OF Spirulina platensis USING AQUACULTURE WASTEWATER AS A SUSTAINABLE NUTRIENT SOURCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/joa.v14i1.9623Keywords:
Aquaculture waste, protein production, Spirulina platensis, sustainable aquaculture, Tilapia wastewaterAbstract
Aquaculture effluent, if not utilized, causes environmental impacts due to its high organic matter content. Therefore, the nutrient source from aquaculture effluent is used to cultivate Spirulina platensis reducing the cost of synthetic nutrient media production and waste management for sustainable aquaculture. In this study, tilapia wastewater (TWW), catfish wastewater (CWW) and NPK fertilizer were used as alternative substrates for cultivating S. platensis. Cell density was recorded daily for 15 days, and biomass, protein and chlorophyll content were determined after 15 days of S. platensis culture. The culture using TWW produced the highest biomass (1.53 g L⁻¹), exceeding that of CWW at 10⁻² dilution by 34%, the highest chlorophyll content (0.017 mg mL⁻¹) at 10⁻⁵ dilution exceeding that of CWW by 0.4% and the maximum protein content (0.587 μg mL⁻¹) at 10⁻⁴ dilution, exceeding that of CWW by 13.5% and comparable to Zarrouk medium. These results support integrating aquaculture waste into Spirulina bioprocessing for environmentally efficient protein production. This indicates that TWW is a consistent and more balanced nutrient source that can support microalgae metabolism. Therefore, environmental sustainability can be enhanced by transforming aquaculture effluents into valuable nutrient sources.
Keywords: Aquaculture waste, protein production, Spirulina platensis, sustainable aquaculture, Tilapia wastewater
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