Volume 11 Issue 1 ( March )

Audible sound exposure affects the growth and lipid production of Indonesia’s indigenous microalga Chlorella DPK-01 cultivated in Bold’s Basal Media (BBM) and NPK Fertilizer Media. The NPK Fertilizer can also be considered a cost-efficient alternative medium to grow Chlorella DPK-01. Schierer-Ray Hare (SRH) test (α = 0.05) shows that there is no significant difference between the average cell density of Chlorella DPK-01 grown in BBM (basal media) and NPK Media (alternative media). Hence, NPK media can be used as a cost-efficient alternative medium. However, based on eight days of observation, it is known that when cultivated in NPK Fertilizer Media with exposure to a 279.9 Hz sine soundwave, Chlorella DPK-01 has the highest cell density on the peak phase (2.060 x 106 cells/mL) and the highest growth rate (0.670 per day). However, it does not have the highest lipid percentage (23.4%). Meanwhile, even though the cell density on the peak phase (1.382 x 106 cells/mL) and growth rate value (0.419 per day) of microalga Chlorella DPK-01 exposed to 279.9 Hz square soundwave is not the highest, it has the highest lipid percentage (53.43%) among all other treatments. Different audible soundwave forms also affected the growth and lipid percentage of Chlorella DPK-01 cultivated in BBM, yet the results are not as varied as were cultivated NPK Fertilizer Media. Therefore, the exposure of audible soundwaves and the usage of NPK Fertilizer Media can be used as an improvement strategy for the photobioreactor system.

Keywords: audible sound, BBM, Chlorella DPK-01, growth rate, lipid percentage, NPK Media