Microbial Lipid Production from Corn Stover by the Oleaginous Yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides Using the PreSSLP Process

Xiaozan Dai,Jie Bao,Dayu Yu,Lei Wang,Qiang Li,Zongbao Zhao,Xue Yu,Kamal Rasool,Hongwei Shen,Qian Wang

doi:10.3390/en12061053

Abstract

Dry acid pretreatment and biodetoxification (DryPB) has been considered as an advanced technology to treat lignocellulosic materials for improved downstream bioconversion. In this study, the lipid production from DryPB corn stover was investigated by the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides using a new process designated prehydrolysis followed by simultaneous saccharification and lipid production (PreSSLP). The results found that prehydrolysis at 50 °C and then lipid production at 30 °C improved lipid yield by more than 17.0% compared with those without a prehydrolysis step. The highest lipid yield of 0.080 g/g DryPB corn stover was achieved at a solid loading of 12.5%. The fatty acid distribution of lipid products was similar to those of conventional vegetable oils that are used for biodiesel production. Our results suggested that the integration of DryPB process and PreSSLP process can be explored as an improved technology for microbial lipid production from lignocellulosic materials.

Highlights

Our growing concerns on fossil fuels depletion and environmental deterioration have prompted rapid development and application of biofuels especially biodiesel in recent years [1]
We explored microbial lipid production from Dry acid pretreatment and biodetoxification (DryPB) corn stover by the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides
Our results suggest the integration of DryPB process and PreSSLP process can be explored as a prospective approach for microbial lipid production from lignocellulosic biomass

Summary

Introduction

Our growing concerns on fossil fuels depletion and environmental deterioration have prompted rapid development and application of biofuels especially biodiesel in recent years [1]. While biodiesel has been considered as safer, greener and renewable biofuel, the primary disadvantage connected with biodiesel application is the consumption of a large volume of conventional lipid resources [2,3]. Microbial lipids produced by oleaginous microorganisms were considered as alternative feedstocks for biodiesel production [4]. Since the expense of single cell oil come largely from raw materials and production processes [5], it is key to use cheap feedstocks and develop a more efficient process. Lignocellulosic materials consisting of lignin and two major polysaccharides cellulose and hemicellulose are renewable and abundant in nature. Cellulose is composed of glucose unit and hemicellulose is composed of pentoses and hexoses such as xylose, arabinose and galactose units

Methods

Results

Conclusion