(571b) Phosphate Optimization for Economical Lipid Production From Lipomyces Starkeyi Grown On Starch

Sharif M. Rahman ,Ramalingam Subramaniam, Stephen Dufreche, Mark Zappi and Rakesh Bajpai, Chemical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA

Microbial lipids can be obtained by the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi using sweet potato starch as carbon source which is available largely from processors during cutting and canning process. But high cost of production is the major barrier for industrial production of microbial lipids. This cost can be reduced by optimizing nutrient components. Phosphorus is one of the highest cost contributing elements for microbial culture; and it is mostly incorporated with phospholipids and nucleic acids into the cells. It is under investigation that reduction of phosphate concentration affects cell growth as well as lipid accumulation. However, it is predicted that there is an optimum point of phosphate level where lipid accumulation does not change significantly. This work mainly focuses on optimizing phosphate concentration of the medium since it is a vital factor for economical microbial lipid production using waste materials.