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Production of Bio-oils from Microbial Biomasses

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Mycoremediation and Environmental Sustainability

Part of the book series: Fungal Biology ((FUNGBIO))

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Abstract

Several yeasts and fungal strains are known for their ability to accumulate high amounts of lipids inside the cells. The interest for their utilisation at industrial level as sources of fats and oils (named SCO, single cell oils) was raised by various advantages presented by these microbial biomasses in comparison to other lipid sources, such as vegetable or animal feedstocks; among them, the possibility to obtain compounds with peculiar composition, the capability to use wastes and coproduct of other processes for cell growth and conversion into lipids, no dependence from seasonal and climatic trends and no requirement for agricultural lands. Biochemical pathways of lipid metabolism are well characterised in both oleaginous and non-oleaginous microorganisms, and their knowledge allows to orient cell physiology and metabolic engineering strategies aimed to improve quantity and quality of SCO production. Some SCO industrial processes have been developed, in particular in the fields of nutrition, of nutraceuticals and of biofuels.

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Acknowledgements

All the figures and tables were edited by Massimo Torta. The picture in Fig. 3.5 was taken by Fulvia Rosso.

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  1. CREA-IT, Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy – Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing, Turin, Italy

    Laura Bardi

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  1. Laura Bardi
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Correspondence to Laura Bardi .

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  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Ram Prasad

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Bardi, L. (2018). Production of Bio-oils from Microbial Biomasses. In: Prasad, R. (eds) Mycoremediation and Environmental Sustainability. Fungal Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77386-5_3

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