Transition from start-up to scale-up for fucoxanthin production in flat plate photobioreactor

Fucoxanthin is one of the most important carotenoids and is found in diatoms such as Phaeodactylum tricornutum. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of both the constant volumetric power consumption rate as scale-up strategy and the constant light energy per unit volume for transition from 1000-mL bottle to 2-L and 7-L flat plate photobioreactors for fucoxanthin production in P. tricornutum, considering whether an increase in the fucoxanthin yield could be achieved. The cell concentration and fucoxanthin content were enhanced with increasing the cultivation volume. It was found that the fucoxanthin yield increased 2.3 times in 2-L photobioreactor and 2.6 times in 7-L photobioreactor in comparison to the value of 1.05 mg g−1 dry weight in the cultivation bottle. Consequently, fucoxanthin production was successfully step-wise scaled-up from 1000-mL bottle to 7-L photobioreactor using both constant volumetric power consumption rate and the constant light energy per unit volume under laboratory conditions.