Effects of sodium nitrate on the growth and proximate composition of the indigenous marine microalgae Tetraselmis chuii (Butcher, 1959)

Abstract

Nitrogen is one of the fundamental nutrients for algal growth, underpinning the microalgal biochemical composition. Therefore, this study compared the growth and proximate compositions of Tetraselmis chuii (Butcher, 1959), cultured in different nitrate (NaNO3) concentrations (25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 mg L-1). Thus, the cell density, optical density, specific growth rate and division rate of T. chuii were measured daily. Furthermore, protein and carbohydrate contents were also determined in the stationary phase. The results showed that T. chuii cultivated in a NaNO3 concentration of 500 mg L-1 had significantly (p