ARTICLE IN PRESS

THE EFFECT OF 15% CO2 INJECTION INTO POME SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE Euglena sp. CULTURE’S GROWTH AND LIPID PRODUCTION

SITI MUALIFAH1; RIA AMELIA1; DEDY KURNIANTO1,2; RENATA ADARANYSSA EGISTHA PUTRI1; GEOFANI KARINE APRILIANA1; HERI SUJADMIKO1 and EKO AGUS SUYONO1*

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2026.0031
Received: 5 November 2025   Accepted: 4 June 2026   Published Online: 7 August 2026
ABSTRACT

The combustion of fossil fuels significantly increases atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), contributing to global climate change. Thus, renewable biofuel resources are essential to mitigate CO2 emissions. Euglena sp., a microalga which is capable of CO2 fixation, producing biomass that can be utilized for biofuel production. Additionally, microalgae can assimilate nutrients from liquid waste, such as palm oil mill effluent (POME), which is rich in essential elements for growth and lipid synthesis as part of a biorefinery approach. This study investigated the effects of POME supplementation at concentrations of 0%, 15% and 30% under mixotrophic and heterotrophic cultivation with 15% CO2 injection on the morphology, growth, biomass, and metabolite content (lipids and paramylon) of Euglena sp. in the laboratory-scale culture. The M. 15% treatment (mixotrophic with 15% POME) yielded the highest performance, with a cell density of 1,458 × 104 cells/mL, optical density of 0.52, biomass of 0.57 g/L and lipid content of 0.42 mg/L. The highest paramylon accumulation occurred in the H. 15% treatment (heterotrophic with 15% POME), reaching 4.516 ± 0.008 mg/L/day on day 15. The morphological analysis revealed that spindleshaped and elongated cells were found in most treatments, with heterotrophic 15% showing predominantly spindle shapes. The dominant fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) identified was methyl palmitoleate.

KEYWORDS:


1 Faculty of Biology,
Universitas Gadjah Mada,
55284 Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

2 Research Centre for Food Technology and Processing,
National Research and Innovation Agency,
55861 Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

3 Biotechnology Study Program,
Postgraduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada,
Sekip Utara, Sleman, 55281 Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

* Corresponding author e-mail: eko_suyono@mail.ugm.ac.id