Mixed culture of oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis and microalga Chlorella vulgaris for lipid production from industrial wastes and its use as biodiesel feedstock

A mixed culture of oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis and microalga Chlorella vulgaris was performed to enhance lipid production from industrial wastes. These included effluent from seafood processing plant and molasses from sugar cane plant. In the mixed culture, the yeast grew faster and the lipid production was higher than that in the pure cultures. This could be because microalga acted as an oxygen generator for yeast, while yeast provided CO2 to microalga and both carried out the production of lipids. The optimal conditions for lipid production by the mixed culture were as follows: ratio of yeast to microalga at 1:1; initial pH at 5.0; molasses concentration at 1%; shaking speed at 200 rpm; and light intensity at 5.0 klux under 16:8 hours light and dark cycles. Under these conditions, the highest biomass of 4.63 ± 0.15 g/L and lipid production of 2.88 ± 0.16 g/L were obtained after five days of cultivation. In addition, the plant oil-like fatty acid composition of yeast and microalgal lipids suggested their high potential for use as biodiesel feedstock.