ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Industrial Biotechnology
Effect of salinity on growth and microbial diversity in cultures of Scenedesmus almeriensis produced at a pilot scale
Provisionally accepted
- University of Almeria, Almería, Spain
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Abstract Freshwater scarcity represents a major constraint for the sustainable industrial-scale cultivation of microalgae. This study investigates the feasibility of producing Scenedesmus almeriensis using seawater in 3.1 m³ tubular photobioreactors under winter–spring conditions. Biomass productivity and microbial diversity were compared between freshwater and seawater-based cultures under batch and semi-continuous regimes (0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 day⁻¹). Maximum biomass concentrations reached 0.60 and 2.15 g·L⁻¹ in freshwater and seawater, respectively (p<0.05). Production using seawater also led to a higher biomass productivity (0.18 g·L-1·day-1) compared to freshwater (0.06 g·L-1·day-1) when operating at a fixed dilution rate of 0.1 day-1. Seawater cultures also showed greater stability, higher photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm), and reduced contamination by zooplankton, fungi, and ciliates, enabling Scenedesmus to dominate up to 70% of the microalgal community. In contrast, freshwater cultures were rapidly degraded by rotifers and anaerobic fungi, reducing productivity and purity. The appearance of algal predators represents a huge challenge in industrial facilities. The results described in this study highlight the potential use of seawater as a strategic water source for more sustainable, resilient, and efficient microalgae production systems.
Keywords: bioeconomy, Metagenomics, Microalgae, Microbial contaminants, Photobioreactor, Renewable biomass
Received: 24 Nov 2025; Accepted: 13 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Rivera-Sánchez, Salinas-García, Viviano, Villaró-Cos and Lafarga. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tomás Lafarga
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