Unlocking microalgal treasures: Utilization of palm oil mill effluent as growth medium for the production of value-added microalgal compounds

Indonesia is well known as the largest oil palm producer in the world. Along with the production, a large amount of palm oil mill effluent (POME) is also generated, which could pollute the environments. In this thesis, we utilize POME as medium growth of microalgae to produce value-added products such as fucoxanthin, phycocyanin, and sulphated exopolysaccharide. We found that microalgae could grow well on POME. Environmental and nutritional factors influenced the growth and the value-added production. By implementing this method, a dual purpose was reached: lowering nutrients and pollutant from POME, and in other hand, producing high value-added products.