Petrodiesel-like straight chain alkane and fatty alcohol production by the Microalga Chlorella sorokiniana

This study was to investigate the composition and characteristics of long-straight chain alkane and fatty alcohols from the microalga Chlorella Sorokiniana 21, isolated from the coastal water of Pearl River Delta, China. Under the optimized aeration growth condition, this strain yielded up to 1.44 g L−1 biomass and 24.90% extracts of dry weight. The major compounds of the extracts were identified to be alkanes (35.93%) and alcohols (53.73%). Of the extracts, long-straight chain alkanes accounted for 30.54% with heptadecane (21.13%) as a predominant component. Furthermore, a large amount of fatty alcohols (53.73%) were identified in the algal extracts with 29.09% of 3-(2-methoxyethyl)-1-nonanol. Thus, this algal species is a promising feedstock for the production of supplement for petrodiesel-like fuels and biochemicals used in the cosmetics and food industries. This study represents the first report of long-straight chain alkane and fatty alcohols from microalgae isolated from coastal water of the region.