Value-Added Squalene in Single-Cell Oil Produced with <i>Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosus</i> for Food Applications

Abstract

Single-cell oil (SCO) produced by oleaginous microorganisms is potentially a more land-efficient and sustainable alternative to vegetable oil. The cost of SCO production can be reduced by value-added co-products like squalene, a highly relevant compound for the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industry. For the first time, squalene in the oleaginous yeast <i>Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosus</i> was analyzed, reaching 172.95 ± 61.31 mg/100 g oil in a lab-scale bioreactor. Using the squalene monooxygenase inhibitor terbinafine, cellular squalene was significantly increased to 2169 ± 262 mg/100 g SCO, while the yeast remained highly oleaginous. Further, SCO from a 1000 L scale production was chemically refined. The squalene content in the deodorizer distillate (DD) was found to be higher than that in DD from typical vegetable oils. Overall, this study demonstrates squalene as a value-added compound in SCO from <i>C. oleaginosus</i> for application in food and cosmetics without the use of genetic modifications.