Assessing oleaginous yeasts for their potentials on microbial lipid production from sugarcane bagasse and the effects of physical changes on lipid production

Abstract We assess oleaginous yeast strains from five genera to identify the strain suitable to use sugarcane bagasse as a feedstock for lipid production. Upon initial assessment in glucose or xylose media, five potential strains were chosen for further assessment in sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate. All strains exhibited improved growth and lipid production due to a buffering capacity of the hydrolysate, with R. glutinis showing the best lipid production. The yeast growth and lipid production were similar over the pH range between 5.5 to 7.5. It performed best at 30 °C. Using baffled flask at 200 rpm resulted in the highest cell dry weight of 40 g/L and 20 g/L of lipid, while using 100 rpm or normal flasks resulted in a much lower growth and lipid production. The results from this study suggest that sugarcane bagasse could be a raw material for microbial lipid production, providing the control criteria are suitable.