Microbial lipid production from pectin-derived carbohydrates by oleaginous yeasts

• Three oleaginous yeasts efficiently converted galacturonate into lipids.
• Pectin and beet pulp hydrolysates were suitable for lipid production.
• Galacturonate, arabinose and glucose were all consumed.
• Lipid samples contained C16 and C18 long chain fatty acids.

Pectin-rich biomass is relatively less studied as feedstock for the production of biofuel and chemicals, partially because the major compositional carbohydrates galacturonate and arabinose are generally disfavored substrates for microorganisms. To explore the capability of microbial lipid production from pectic biomass, 10 oleaginous yeasts were evaluated by using galacturonate as sole carbon sources. Three strains belonging to Trichosporon cutaneum, Trichosporon fermentans and Cryptococcus curvatus were found to effectively convert galacturonate into lipid with lipid yields up to 0.12 g/g. Slightly higher lipid yields were also obtained on beet pulp hydrolysates, and cellular lipid contents were higher than 40.0% except for the T. fermentans strain. All of these lipid samples had long chain fatty acid compositional profiles similar to those of vegetable oils. The results demonstrate the potential of lipid production from pectic biomass, which is of great significance in terms of integrating wastes management and biofuel production.

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