Utilization of Soluble Starch by Oleaginous Red Yeast <i>Rhodotorula glutinis</i>

Abstract

Starch containing wastewaters from the food and feed industry have been identified as potential cheap carbon sources for the production of microbial lipids. Due to its high potential lipid content the oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis is often used for fermentations in this field. Moreover it is investigated in the context of microbial carotenoid production, which also requires a cheap source of carbon. Thus, the ability of R. glutinis (ATCC 15125TM) to degrade and utilize soluble starch for the production of lipids has been assessed in this study. While glucose and fructose were readily consumed from the medium, starch was only slightly reduced in one treatment. The yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) was graduated corresponding to the initial sugar contents, with the highest FAME yield (1.5 g·L-1) at the highest initial sugar content. In the treatment that contained starch as single carbon source, no FAME production was realized. Accordingly, if starchy wastewaters should be used for microbial cultivation with R. glutinis, an enzymatic or chemical pretreatment for starch hydrolysis should be applied, to increase the availability of this carbon source.