Evaluating the effect of medium composition and fermentation condition on the microbial oil production by Trichosporon cutaneum on corncob acid hydrolysate

The effect of medium composition and cultural condition on the growth and lipid accumulation of oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum on corncob acid hydrolysate was systematically investigated. Glucose, xylose, and cellobiose were shown to be promising sugar for lipid production by T. cutaneum. Adding other nitrogen sources into the hydrolysate was not beneficial for the lipid production possibly due to the existence of other nitrogen sources in it. Interestingly, adding MgSO4·7H2O, CuSO4·5H2O, MnSO4·H2O, and KCl (optimal concentration were 0.3, 3.0 × 10−3, 3.0 × 10−3, and 0.4 g/L, respectively) could stimulate the lipid production by T. cutaneum. Additionally, inoculum concentration, temperature, and initial pH (optimal value were 5%, 28 °C, and 6.0, respectively) showed influence on the lipid production of T. cutaneum. Under the optimum conditions, the biomass (22.9 g/L) had a weak increase (3.6%), while the lipid content (45.4%) and lipid coefficient (22.9%) increased obviously (about 26.5% and 31.6%) compared with the initial conditions.