Production of Arachidonic Acid and Eicosapentaenoic Acid by Mortierella alpina CBS 528.72 on Date Waste.

Seyedeh Zeinab Asadi,Houshang Nikoopour,Hossein Bakhoda,Kianoush Khosravi-Darani

doi:10.17113/ftb.56.02.18.5379

Abstract

Arachidonic acid (ARA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are important for human health and are produced by the fungus Mortierella alpina. Fermentation conditions may affect fatty acid profile of produced oil. Substrates in solid-state fermentation are usually renewable and low-cost agro-industrial waste. The aim of this research is to study simultaneous production of ARA and EPA by M. alpina CBS 528.72 in solid-state fermentation. Date waste and soybean meal served as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Plackett-Burman design was used to evaluate the impact of eleven process variables on ARA and EPA production. Analysis of the results showed that the main variables with significant impact on production include seed age, and supplementation of linseed oil and nitrogen. These three variables were then studied in a central composite design for the optimization of production of both fatty acids. Finally, reconfirmation test was conducted to obtain experimental results from predicted optimum conditions. This report showed that simultaneous optimization of the production of ARA and EPA by M. alpina CBS 528.72 on date waste can be achieved by modification of process variables in solid-state fermentation.

Highlights

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as arachidonic acid (ARA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have significant pharmaceutical and nutritional value and great impact on human physiology due to their important roles as structural components of membrane phospholipids and eicosanoid precursors (1-3)
In other words, adding linseed oil had greater effect on desaturation of the oil produced by M. alpina than adding soybean oil to the substrate, which showed that, by culturing this fungus, linseed oil could be metabolized more effectively and that it had a positive effect on the production of PUFAs
The mentioned findings confirm that M. alpina is capable of using lipids added to the medium for producing PUFAs, which is done by desaturation and elongation of fatty acids (33)

Summary

Introduction

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as arachidonic acid (ARA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have significant pharmaceutical and nutritional value and great impact on human physiology due to their important roles as structural components of membrane phospholipids and eicosanoid precursors (1-3). Microorganisms, pig liver, adrenal glands and marine fish oil are all sources of PUFAs, e.g. ARA and EPA (4). There are some problems with marine resources due to limited fishing quotas and remote geographical locations and the necessity to remove cholesterol, undesirable odours and flavours (5). Some microalgae are suitable sources of EPA, but they require specific conditions for growth, so they are not economically suitable at all times. Microorganisms are more preferable to animal-based sources for the production of PUFAs for use as food additives, dietary supplements or feedstock (6)

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