Abstract

This study was performed in order to bring out a detailed information on growth dynamics and biochemical determination of the diatom species Nitzschia palea (Kützing) W. Smith under batch culture conditions in order to pave the way for further studies. The study material was isolated from a fresh water sample collected from Ankara, Turkey. The diatoms were cultured in Allen medium for 168 hours and the growth dynamics were determined by cell density and dry weight analyses. Specific growth rate, duplication time of the culture and biochemical compositions were also investigated. Molecular characterization of the N. palea strain was performed by applying Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The cell density and the dry biomass of the culture at the end of the 168 hours incubation period was determined as 2.0x106±1.0x105 cells/mL and 0.212±0.041 g L-1 , respectively. The algal specific growth rate was found as 0.010 h-1 at 96-h and the doubling time was calculated as 68 h-1 . The protein content was measured as 41.21%, carbohydrate content as 21.74%, lipid content as 16.84% and ash content as 19.88%. These results indicated that N. palea may be used in different fields of industries, especially in biodiesel production.