VIKRAM SINGH AND J. S. LAURA
Department of Environmental Science, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak-124 001 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : jslmdu@gmail.com; Mobile : 9813167341)
(Received : August 2, 2019; Accepted : October 10, 2019)
ABSTRACT
Microalgae have been used as food supplements in pharmaceutical industries and as additives in many cosmetic products for centuries. But now interests have been shifting towards biofuel production from them, because of their high oil content. In microalgae cultivation, regular monitoring of growth is required for biomass and cell density estimation. Measuring optical density (OD) is best way to monitor growth. In the present study, relationship of commonly used wavelength with growth has been established. OD was measured on spectrophotometer at selected wavelengths and cell density on haemocytometer using light microscope. Growth data in terms of OD at commonly used wavelength were found to be correlated. A linear relation was found between OD and dry biomass with correlation coefficient of greater than 0.99. Relationship between OD and cell count was also found to be linear with correlation coefficient of greater than 0.98.
Key words : OD, biomass, wavelength, cell count, scatter, absorbance