Systematic Insights into Cost-Efficient Biomass and Pigment Production of Limnospira maxima (spirulina) under Varied LED Spectra and Intensities

Systematic Insights into Cost-Efficient Biomass and Pigment Production of Limnospira maxima (spirulina) under Varied LED Spectra and Intensities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Systematic Insights into Cost-Efficient Biomass and Pigment Production of Limnospira maxima (spirulina) under Varied LED Spectra and Intensities Claudia M. Vásquez Guevara, Simona Lucáková, Matyáš Jedlička, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7640111/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Finding an optimal artificial light source for photoautotrophic microalgae cultivation is a complex task. This study provides missing data for Limnospira ( Arthrospira ) maxima cultivation and key aspects for evaluating this issue. Rigorous experimental datasets were analyzed to clarify the relationship between illumination (LEDs) characteristics (intensity and spectral composition) and biomass/pigments production, considering energy costs in the technologically relevant light-limited region of the photosynthesis-irradiance curve (up to 550 µmol/m²/s). Using the same light spectra (cool white), higher light intensities consistently increased biomass productivity, with a maximum of 0.97 g/L/day at 550 µmol/m²/s. However, the lowest energy costs per unit of biomass and pigments were achieved under low light intensity of 100 µmol/m²/s (0.57 kWh/g of biomass, 2.45 kWh/g of phycocyanin, 51.4 kWh/g of carotenoids, and 15.4 kWh/g of chlorophyll a ). When spectral composition was varied at constant light intensity of 50 µmol/m²/s, the highest productivity and lowest energy costs were observed under daylight white and warm white light, followed by red. Surprisingly, pigment content remained relatively stable across all spectra. These findings provide practical guidance for optimizing L. maxima cultivation by balancing productivity and energy efficiency. cyanobacteria spirulina Limnospira maxima LEDs phycocyanin energy efficiency Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementary1.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 31 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 31 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 29 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 27 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 01 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 17 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7640111","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":530831815,"identity":"951de0ab-b833-4ba3-a430-4b6e2d11e3f1","order_by":0,"name":"Claudia M. 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LEDs, phycocyanin, energy efficiency","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7640111/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7640111/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFinding an optimal artificial light source for photoautotrophic microalgae cultivation is a complex task. This study provides missing data for \u003cem\u003eLimnospira\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eArthrospira\u003c/em\u003e) \u003cem\u003emaxima\u003c/em\u003e cultivation and key aspects for evaluating this issue. Rigorous experimental datasets were analyzed to clarify the relationship between illumination (LEDs) characteristics (intensity and spectral composition) and biomass/pigments production, considering energy costs in the technologically relevant light-limited region of the photosynthesis-irradiance curve (up to 550 \u0026micro;mol/m\u0026sup2;/s). Using the same light spectra (cool white), higher light intensities consistently increased biomass productivity, with a maximum of 0.97 g/L/day at 550 \u0026micro;mol/m\u0026sup2;/s. However, the lowest energy costs per unit of biomass and pigments were achieved under low light intensity of 100 \u0026micro;mol/m\u0026sup2;/s (0.57 kWh/g of biomass, 2.45 kWh/g of phycocyanin, 51.4 kWh/g of carotenoids, and 15.4 kWh/g of chlorophyll \u003cem\u003ea\u003c/em\u003e). When spectral composition was varied at constant light intensity of 50 \u0026micro;mol/m\u0026sup2;/s, the highest productivity and lowest energy costs were observed under daylight white and warm white light, followed by red. Surprisingly, pigment content remained relatively stable across all spectra. These findings provide practical guidance for optimizing \u003cem\u003eL. maxima\u003c/em\u003e cultivation by balancing productivity and energy efficiency.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Systematic Insights into Cost-Efficient Biomass and Pigment Production of Limnospira maxima (spirulina) under Varied LED Spectra and Intensities","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-18 06:15:55","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7640111/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-31T08:52:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-31T06:23:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-29T04:08:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-27T15:31:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-23T20:47:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"230317743121844602229596993641820059243","date":"2025-10-22T07:37:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"335018852494267393419284067622842215406","date":"2025-10-16T19:30:04+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"129679806094379446578167918706030577532","date":"2025-10-16T11:58:20+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"191582084083968389548554181146162548967","date":"2025-10-16T11:01:47+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-06T10:13:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-10-01T06:04:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-30T14:25:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Applied Phycology","date":"2025-09-17T12:10:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"","identity":"journal-of-applied-phycology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"10811","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10811/3","title":"Journal of Applied Phycology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ff49e94b-2af9-41f3-9f82-d5b9118a8ced","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-23T05:23:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-18 06:15:55","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7640111","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7640111","identity":"rs-7640111","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}