Effect of various C/N ratio on lipid production of Mucor irregularis JR 1.1 using glucose as carbon source

Abstract

Abstract The presence of limited nitrogen plays an important role in the lipid production process in oleaginous fungi, highlighting the significance of achieving an appropriate carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio to optimize biomass and lipid production. Mucor irregularis JR 1.1, an oleaginous fungi inoculated from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, shows the ability to accumulate lipids up to 43.46% of its total dry biomass. However, the optimum C/N ratio for lipid production of M. irregularis JR 1.1 has not yet been determined. This research aims to explore the effects of different C/N ratios on biomass and lipid production of M. irregularis JR 1.1, utilizing glucose as the primary carbon source. Various C/N ratio ranging from 15 to 75 was examined, alongside with incubation time of 144 hours at 29°C. The optimum C/N ratio was then utilized to construct a growth curve to evaluate the influence of varying incubation time on biomass and lipid production, as well as the lipid productivity of M. irregularis JR 1.1. Results revealed that the highest level of biomass and lipid production were achieved at C/N ratio 40. Additionally, variations in incubation time exhibited a consistent rise in both biomass and lipid production, with the highest lipid productivity achieved at 72 hours of incubation. This study suggests that variation in the C/N ratio and incubation time have discernible impact the biomass and lipid production of M. irregularis JR 1.1 while variations in incubation time did not affect the lipid productivity.