Unlocking the Potential of Coelastrella and Scenedesmus Algal Consortium: A New Frontier for Protein Production and Wastewater Bioindicators

The handling of wastewater has long been a contentious issue. Microalgal consortia are realistic and sustainable options for advanced wastewater treatment since they produce single-cell proteins in addition to high-value commodities. Unavoidably, this process is already in motion, but it proceeds too slowly to allow for prompt recycling. Microalgae consortia can be more effective at detoxifying organic and inorganic pollutants and removing nutrients from wastewater than single microorganisms. The "bioaugmentation" process entails adding nutrients or other microorganisms with specific degrading abilities to microbial populations that clean wastewater. In this experimental setup of the algal consortium, two strains of algae, Scenedesmus and Coelastrella sp ., which are members of Chlorophyceae, were employed. The effluent wastewater of Bengal Chemical, Khardaha, 24 Pgs N, W. B. facility was used as the nutritional media in this investigation. A consortium created with these two alga strains at a 1:1 ratio of biomass achieved maximum growth on the 6th day of cultivation. According to the results, biomass, protein, and chlorophyll contents of 3.71 mg/ml, 500.50 µg/mg, and 111.26 µg/mg, respectively, were produced by this synergistic combination. However, antagonistic effects occurred when both the 2:1 and 1:2 combinations of primary inoculums were used, which resulted in less of the desired product. At a 1:1 ratio, the Coelastrell and Scenedesmus consortia outperformed the other combinations in the removal of phosphate and ammonium from wastewater, with removal rates of 65% and 82%, respectively.