Heterotrophic cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris using saline waste water from the demineralization of cheese whey.

Objective: Desalination of cheese whey by electrodialysis yields saline wastewater (SWW). The goal was to test this as the basis of a culture medium and to prove experimentally the concept that it was a suitable resource for heterotrophic cultivation of the freshwater green microalga Chlorella vulgaris.

Results: Optimization of glucose concentration, nitrogen source and medium salinity for microalgal growth was first carried out in defined medium (DM) and shake flasks.