Consolidated Bioprocessing of Sugarcane Bagasse to Microbial Oil by Newly Isolated Oleaginous Fungus: Mortierella wolfii

The crucial need for alternative oil sources due to increasing energy demand has motivated research to find alternatives resources. In the current study, different fungal groups were isolated from diverse Egyptian localities for oil production screening as well as sugarcane bagasse management. A total of 499 fungal isolates were recovered from soil and dung samples; one isolate was identified as Mortierella wolfii AH12 using morphological and molecular techniques and was demonstrated to produce high lipid concentrations. Taguchi design was used to obtain higher lipid productivity. Accordingly, dry biomass, total lipids, and lipid percentage were 3.81 g l−1, 1.57 g l−1, and 41.2%, respectively, under the optimized culture conditions: 40 g glucose, 5 g peptone, pH 5 at 30 0°C for 10 days. Non-pretreated sugarcane bagasse was not only utilized as an alternative carbon source, but it was also an effective source of nutrients for mold sprouting and lipid biosynthesis using solid-state fermentation (SSF) technique. Promising fatty acid profile was deduced, where palmitic (PA) and oleic acid (OA) were predominant. Moreover, unsaturated fatty acids (USFAs) as linoleic acid (LA), Gamma linolenic acid (GLA), Dihomo gamma linolenic acid (DGLA), arachidonic acid (ARA) were present in low quantities according to GC–MS analysis. The study offers a promising result that serves in the management of agricultural waste, converting it into lipids with a promising profile which could be considered as a precursor for biodiesel.