Fusarium verticillioides as a single-cell oil source for biodiesel production and dietary supplements

A newly isolated oleaginous fungus called E4-2 and identified as Fusarium verticillioides was selected as a potential source of lipid production using glucose as carbon source and a mixture of ammonium chloride and yeast extract as nitrogen sources. A maximum lipid accumulation of 1.88 g/L and a lipid cell content of 38% were obtained at optimal pH and temperature equal to 5 and 30 °C, respectively. Moreover, the E4-2 strain can grow on a variety of low-cost agro-waste carbon sources. Interestingly, waste cooking oils (1.67 g/L) and soap stock of refined olive oil pomace (1.25 g/L) were optimal for a maximum lipid accumulation. Gas chromatography analysis of the extracted lipids revealed that, similar to some vegetal oils, the prominent fatty acid (FA) constituents were C18:1 (34.65%), C18:2 or ω6 (30.78%) and C16:0 (25.61%) with a high ω6 content. More interestingly, the ω3 content rose from 0.86 to 1.71 when culture temperature was set from 30 to 25 °C. The predictive determination of biodiesel properties from fatty acids profile suggests that E4-2 lipids may favorably be used for biodiesel production. All these characteristics argue in favor of the great biotechnological potential of the lipids produced by our strain.