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Impact of seasons on industrial cultivation of Limnospira platensis (Spirulina): a year-round case study on biomass, phycocyanin, and protein productivity in Portugal

2025-10Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorGuerra, Inês
dc.contributor.authorTorres, Cátia
dc.contributor.authorCardoso, Helena
dc.contributor.authorPereira, Hugo
dc.contributor.authorTrovão, Mafalda
dc.contributor.authorRodrigues, Alexandre M. C.
dc.contributor.authorVarela, João
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-31T10:13:14Z
dc.date.available2025-10-31T10:13:14Z
dc.date.issued2025-10
dc.description.abstractSpirulina is the most commercially produced biomass, among microalgae and cyanobacteria, with extensive applications across food, feed, nutraceutical and biotechnological sectors. While Spirulina cultivation is wellcharacterized at laboratorial and small-scale production, critical knowledge gaps remain regarding industrialscale production in temperate climates. Specifically, there is a lack of robust empirical data on how seasonal environmental fluctuations affect year-round productivity and the maintenance of consistent biomass quality (protein, phycocyanin content) under large-scale operational constraints. This study evaluates the year-round industrial production of Limnospira platensis in large-scale (1000 m2 and 4000 m2 ) raceway reactors at Allmicroalgae - Natural Products S.A., Portugal. Biomass productivity as well as protein and phycocyanin contents across different seasons and throughout the day were assessed. The influence of environmental factors such as temperature and solar radiation on productivity and biomass composition was also analyzed. Industrially grown Spirulina reached an average annual productivity of 5.1–5.6 g.m− 2 .d− 1 . Seasonal variation revealed a winter productivity decline higher than 60 %, compared to peak yields of 7.5–7.6 g.m− 2 .d− 1 from April to September. Protein content remained consistent year-round between 58.4 and 64.7 %, whereas phycocyanin content presented strong solar radiation dependence, peaking at 15.2 % in summer and decreasing to 10.4 % in winter. Furthermore, an analysis throughout the day identified an optimal harvesting window between midday and sunset to maximize phycocyanin levels. These findings validate the industrial feasibility of year-round Spirulina cultivation in temperate climates and provide seasonal productivity forecasting and harvest timing optimization, towards protein consistency and phycocyanin yield optimization.eng
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.algal.2025.104335
dc.identifier.issn2211-9264
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/27863
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relationAlgarve Centre for Marine Sciences
dc.relationAlgarve Centre for Marine Sciences
dc.relationCentre for Marine and Environmental Research
dc.relation.ispartofAlgal Research
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectLimnospira platensis
dc.subjectSpirulina
dc.subjectIndustrial production
dc.subjectRaceway ponds
dc.subjectBiomass productivity
dc.subjectPhycocyanin
dc.subjectProtein
dc.titleImpact of seasons on industrial cultivation of Limnospira platensis (Spirulina): a year-round case study on biomass, phycocyanin, and protein productivity in Portugaleng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleAlgarve Centre for Marine Sciences
oaire.awardTitleAlgarve Centre for Marine Sciences
oaire.awardTitleCentre for Marine and Environmental Research
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F04326%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F04326%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0101%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.startPage104335
oaire.citation.titleAlgal Research:Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts
oaire.citation.volume91
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameGuerra
person.familyNamePereira
person.familyNameVarela
person.givenNameInês
person.givenNameHugo
person.givenNameJoão
person.identifier282781
person.identifier.ciencia-id331E-84FD-2F34
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-9402-0632
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-1369-2099
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-3101-693X
person.identifier.ridE-9360-2015
person.identifier.ridM-4223-2013
person.identifier.scopus-author-id54080259900
person.identifier.scopus-author-id55741416000
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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