Abstract

A short review is presented on the various aspects of cultivation and characterization of biomasses of microalgae for determination of product potentials, mainly biodiesel and poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). This includes details of product potentials, selection of microalgae species/strains keeping in view of desired product potential, effect of nutrients on the growth and quality of biomass produced, cultivation system (open or closed photo bioreactor), solvent extraction processes for extraction of algal oils, commercial aspects of production of biodiesel, and application of analytical techniques for the component analyses of biomass and algal oils. The applications of FT-NMR, FT-IR and MS/GC-MS techniques have been demonstrated for the analyses of algal oils for product potential of algal oils extracted by ultrasonic method using different solvents. The biomasses of microalgae Scenedesmus sp. and Chlorella sp. were cultivated and harvested on a lab scale. The analytical strategy presented would be useful and cost effective for monitoring the overall cultivation process on a pilot plant or industrial scales including selection of microalgae species and quality of the biomass produced for production of biodiesel.