Biodiesel production using jerusalem artichoke via oleaginous yeast and isolation of new oleaginous microbes

Abstract

Oleaginous yeast has attracted great attention as high potentials for the biodiesel production because it grows fast and its final cell density is high. However, the oleaginous yeast utilizes organic substrates for its growth, and it causes the price of biodiesel to rise sharply. This research focuses on using a low cost substrate, Jerusalem artichoke for the cultivation of oleaginous yeast Cryptococcus sp, which was isolated from fermented seafood.Jerusalem artichoke is a non-food crop because the major component is inulin, which is not digested by a human enzyme system. Moreover it has an excellent environmental adaptability, and is easy to be cultivated. For these reasons, Jerusalem artichoke seems to be a potential feedstock candidate. However, to utilize inulin (fructose polymers) of Jerusalem artichoke as a microbial substrate, pretreatment process is absolutely needed. Nitric acid, as an acidic catalyst for hydrolysis of raw materials, has been few applied to several studies. However, Rodrı