Duckweed (Landoltia punctata) production using an arduino-based culturing chamber

Abstract

Continued increase in energy demand, high energy prices and concerns about environmental pollution and climate change that are mainly driven by widespread use of fossil fuels have led to the growing concern about global energy security. Landoltia punctata, a local strain of duckweeds in the Philippines which possesses a great starch accretion ability which are needed for bioethanol was studied and cultured in an Arduino-based culturing chamber under three different culturing medium of swine effluent to water ratio for 6 days culturing period. The results showed that controlled light intensity, pH level, 16:8 photoperiod and 20 to 30 ^oC temperature favored the starch accumulation and biomass production. Moreover, the dilution ratio 2:1 (swine effluent:water) has the most significant starch increase , from 26 % to 94 %. Moreover, the biomass increased from 0.51 grams to 2.49 grams which is 388. 24 % of the starting weight. Furthermore, the results suggested that the more concentrated the culturing medium is, the higher the biomass production and starch accretion given that the optimum living condition was maintained. This study provides optimized duckweeds living condition for future industrial large-scale duckweed cultivation.