Optimizing microalgal biomass for biofuel production: The impact of glucose feeding on lipid and fatty acid profiles in Chlorella zofingiensis

The production of environmentally friendly biofuels has become a major focus of scientists and politicians since the detrimental effects of fossil fuel combustion have become increasingly apparent. One of the established technologies today in this field is the production of biodiesel derived from plant lipids. The study of Jin Liu et al. investigated the differential lipid and fatty acid profiles of the microalga Chlorella zofingiensis in dependence of photoautotrophic or heterotrophic culturing conditions, respectively. The work showed that heterotrophic glucose feeding leads to far higher lipid yields and a strong increase of the relative amount of neutral lipids such as triacylglycerol. The fatty acid profile indicates that oil from heterotrophic C. zofingiensis cells should be of a similar quality as oil from crop plants. The authors conclude that heterotrophic culturing of C. zofingiensis could have a great potential for profitable biodiesel production in the future. © 2010 Future Science Ltd.