Rapeeporn Ruangchuay, Sofhanee Dahamat, Anong Chirapat, and Masahiro Notoya

pp. 501 - 508

Abstract

In vitro cultivation of Gut Weed, Ulva intestinalis Linnaeus, was experimentally studied to support its near optimal
farming, with potential impact in Thailand on its direct use as human food or its co-cultures in shrimp farming.
Germling clusters (2 weeks old and 7.50±2.98 mm long) were seeded into 500 mL flasks and biomass growth rate
optimized with respect to the main controllable factors; seedling density, salinity, light intensity, and temperature. These factors
were assumed to each have an optimal value independent of the others, and the factors were optimized one at a time. The
maximum growth at three to four weeks of cultivation was obtained at the factor levels of 0.05 gL^-1, 20 ppt, 80 μmol photon
m^-2s^-1
 and 25°C. Early zoosporangia were obtained from 2^nd to 4^th weeks. The relative growth rate ranged from 9.47 to 22.18 %
day^-1, and only asexual reproduction of U. intestinalis was observed under these culture conditions.