Exploring Biofuel Potential of Dominant Microalgae of North-East Region of India

Present communication deals with the comparative study of evaluation for potential of biofuel in the form of lipids of three strains of dominant algal genera viz. Microchaete Thuret ex Bornet et Flahault, Spirogyra Link and Trentepohlia Martius grow dominantly in North-Eastern Region of India. The biomass of these three strains viz. Microchaete sp., Spirogyra sp. and Trentepohlia sp. were collected from different natural habitats of Kailashahar and adjoining area of Unakoti district of Tripura, India. The biomass was evaluated for lipid profiling for using them as feedstock for biofuel production in future. On the basis of comparative study on the synthesis of lipid by all the three selected strains revealed that maximum lipid (443mg/g) was observed in Trentepohlia sp. and minimum lipid (236mg/g) was produce by Spirogyra sp. Results revealed that Trentepohlia sp. can synthesize 152.75% more than that of Microchaete sp. and 187.71% more than that of Spirogyra sp. From the present study, it has been concluded that Trentepohlia sp. can synthesis high amount of algal lipids in comparison to remaining other naturally occurring dominant algal genera and it can be a source of algal feedstock for the production of biofuel.