Figure 2.

A contractive overview of the methods used for studies of microalgae and probiotic consortia. Co-cultivation begins with inoculation of microalgae and bacteria. Either viable microalga or its powder/extract can serve as an inoculum. The system in which the microbes are inoculated can be closed or open system (flow-through ponds; tubular photobioreactors); Petri dishes/biofilms in incubators; orbital shakers; or flasks with air/CO₂ supply. During cultivation, growth parameters are usually measured by cell counting (CFU; hematocytometer) and optical density. Downstream processing is performed by separating biomass and supernatant, which are subjected to analytical analysis.