Effects of carbon and nitrogen on the growth and astaxanthin accumulation of Haematococcus pluvialis

Haematococcus pluvialis is a green microalga which accumulates the highest astaxanthin content among all the potential organism sources.In this work,the effects of different concentrations of CO2and KNO3 on the growth and astaxanthin accumulation of H.pluvialis were studied.The results showed that CO2(600×10-6) could significantly promote the growth,photosynthesis and astaxanthin accumulation of H.pluvialis.The astaxanthin content within a single cell was increased by the decrease of KNO3 concentration of the medium.The maximum astaxanthin content of green vegetative cell and green rest cell were 10.93 and 12.64 pg/cell respectively after cultured for 12 days.Continuous ventilation is an effective way to provide carbon source for the growth and astaxanthin accumulation in H.pluvialis.