Objective: Microalgae are studied for decades for various products such as, protein rich animal/fish feed, lipids, pigments, neutra ceuticals, therapeutic agents, primary products and biomass. Lipid content was prime target in most of the research programs for production of biodiesel as an alternate to fossil fuel. Chlorophycean microalgae has the potential to meet all these requirements. The objective of this study was to collect and identify chlorophycean microalgae from various water bodies of Jharkhand State of India and to estimate their total lipid content.Methods: Wild cholorophycean fresh water species from Jharkhand were collected and studied for biomass, total lipid, carotenoids and chlorophyll content. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) data were obtained for further verification of lipid estimation in all the species. Light microscopy as well as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed to identify the species.Results: The observation revealed two groups of micro algae, among these Scenedesmus sp and Chlorella sp. Showed highest lipid accumulation of 45.1 and 41.5 % respectively, while Legerhemia sp. Showed highest biomass production (21.2 g/l). Productivity/day for an 80K L pond system was calculated by extrapolation of results; that changed the choice of organism to Desmodesmus sp.Conclusion: The microalgae collected from highly polluted sites were efficient enough to yield high lipid (AKS-1/AKS-8) and biomass (AKS-6). The laboratory scale study was extrapolated with mass scale culture data and the choice of organism changed to AKS-16 from AKS-1/AKS-8 (for high lipid content) or AKS-6 (for high biomass).Â
