Microalgae are capable of absorbing and concentrating constituent elements that have a wide variety of applications in agriculture, food industry, and medicine. Microalgae chemical composition change according to internal and external factors. In this study, the effect of irradiance, sodium nitrate and sodium acetate concentration on the accumulation of essential minerals in Scenedesmus obliquus biomass were evaluated using 23 factorial screening designs. The simultaneous effect of the three experimental factors was studied using three levels for each parameter (irradiance: 36.71, 69.50, 102.30 μE m-2 s-1, sodium nitrate: 0.27, 44.00, 87.73 g L-1 and sodium acetate: 0.00, 2.50, 5.02 g L-1). The response variables were the minerals concentration of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and Mn. Results show that each mineral has an optimal operation condition in order to improve its concentration in the microalgae biomass. A signifi cant interaction between the variables was observed, which has direct effects on the minerals accumulation in the microalgae biomass. Under these conditions, the maximum concentration of K (1515.77 [mg (100gdw)-1]), Ca (2744.24 [mg (100gdw)-1]), Mg (9697.65 [mg (100gdw)-1]), Fe (2932.42 [mg (100gdw)-1]), Mn (38.48 [mg (100gdw)-1]), Zn (324.00 [mg (100gdw)-1]) and the minimum concentration of Na (5607.20 [mg (100gdw)- 1 ]) were obtained from the microalga biomass. Thus, Scenedesmus obliquus biomass was characterized as good essential mineral source and confi rmed to be potentially valuable ingredient for utilization in the food industry.Fil: Jimenez Veuthey, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; ArgentinaFil: Zapata, Luz Marina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias de la Alimentación; ArgentinaFil: Vezzosi Zoto, Gina Fiorella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; ArgentinaFil: Sacks, Natalia Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; ArgentinaFil: Flores, Agustina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias de la Alimentación; ArgentinaFil: Zampedri, Patricia Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias de la Alimentación; ArgentinaFil: Zampedri, Carolina Ayelen. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias de la Alimentación; Argentin
