Wahyunanto A. Nugroho
Wahyunanto A. Nugroho, Hanaul Rofiq, Yusuf Wibisono

Brawijaya University

Abstract

The increase in human population demands an increase in the number of goods to fulfil their basic needs, one of which is food. Protein is an essential nutrient that must be available in food to satisfy human needs. Microalgae is an aquatic species that contains protein up to 75% of protein per dry weight. Among all species, Chlorella vulgaris can be a candidate for the future protein source as it is easy to cultivate, non-pathogenic and significantly low in uric acid. The standard media for cultivating Chlorella vulgaris is a bold basal medium (BBM). However, the price of the medium is relatively expensive in developing countries. Hence, hydroponic fertilizer (AB Mix) can be an alternative for providing the culture medium.
AB Mix consists of A parts, which is the macronutrients, and B part, which is the micronutrients. This study is to observe the optimum mixing composition and compound concentration in regard to the highest possible growth rate of the Chlorella vulgaris. The ratio of Part-A and Part-B was set to be 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1. A control was set using BBM as the growth medium. Each ratio was carried out in three different concentrations of both Part-A and Part-B: 3.5 ml- 4.9 ml- dan 7 ml. The highest biomass dry weight (34.3889 mg/ml) was achieved by the 1:2 ratio in the highest fertilizer concentration with the average growth rate was 0.212 1/day. The proximate composition as well as the production cost per mass of dry weight is in the progress of analysis.

Keywords: microalgae, Chlorella vulgaris, hydroponics fertilizer

Topic: Agricultural Engineering