Effect of culture media and conditions on polyunsaturated fatty acids production by Mortierella alpina

To improve the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) production by Mortierella, culture media and conditions were investigated. M. alpina ATCC 32222 had the highest yield of arachidonic acid, γ-linolenic acid and linoleic acid among 11 test microbes. Soluble starch at 10% and the mixture of KNO3 and yeast extract at 2:1 (w/w) was the best carbon and nitrogen sources for arachidonic acid and total PUFAs production, respectively. The optimal C/N ratio ranged from 5.1 to 9.0. Each gram of carbon produced 17.4 mg of linoleic acid, 17.0 mg of γ-linolenic acid, 103.0 mg of arachidonic acid and 194.2 mg of total PUFAs at 20 °C, while it yielded 21.4 mg of linoleic acid, 25.6 mg of γ-linolenic acid, 2.6 mg of γ-linolenic acid, 110.3 mg of arachidonic acid, 4.3 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid and 218.4 mg of total PUFAs at 12 °C. A high degree of unsaturation was found at low temperature incubation. Linseed oil supplementation (1%, w/v) increased the PUFAs production and each gram of carbon produced 403.4 mg of α-linolenic acid, 123.1 mg of arachidonic acid, 33.6 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid, 1.68 mg of docosahexaenoic acid and 943.2 mg of total PUFAs. From the optimization of culture media and conditions, PUFAs production increased from 30% to 5 times that was optimal for practical use.