Bioconversion of different carbon sources into microbial oil and biodiesel using oleaginous yeasts

Micro-organisms such as bacteria, yeasts, molds and algae that store lipid more than 20% of their biomass are called Oleaginous. Microbial lipid has a lot of similarity to the oil obtained from plants and animals and this similarity is valuable because it can be used for biodiesel production with many environmental benefits. Production of microbial oil is valuable when the cost of production is decreased by optimization of cultivation condition and using low cost substrate. In this study the effect of carbon and nitrogen sources on lipid production was investigated. These parameters have the most important effect on lipid production in many oleaginous types of yeast. Among the carbon sources which were evaluated, glucose leads to higher lipid content but from economical point of view rice bran was the best carbon source. Between nitrogen sources, yeast extract and ammonium sulfate exhibited higher lipid content. Rhodotorulla 110 had lipid content of 40%, 36% and 30% in glucose, xylose and bran as carbon source respectively with yeast extract and ammonium sulfate as nitrogen sources.