In this study, the green microalga Chlorella vulgaris was exposed to monochromatic light at six different wavelengths in order to study the effect on biomass productivity and fatty acid content. A significantly higher amount of biomass by produced in the treatments with yellow, red and white light compared with blue, green and purple light. There were also significant differences in total lipid content and fatty acid profile between the treatments. The green light regime gave the lowest concentration of lipids, but increased the concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Thus it can be concluded that light quality significantly affects biomass productivity, total lipid concentration and fatty acid profile in the microalga C. vulgaris. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.