Biotechnological valorization of biodiesel derived glycerol waste through production of single cell oil and citric acid by Yarrowia lipolytics

摘要

Continuous energy crises and increasing demand for conventional fuels has resulted in the need for biofuels on a commercial scale. Transesterification of oils to yield biodiesel - one of the principal biofuels currently produced in large-scale operations - is coupled with significant production of a glycerol-rich water (so-called "crude" or "raw" glycerol), as an important side-product of the process. The increasing demand for biodiesel leads to abundant quantities of this glycerol-rich material on the market. Therefore, glycerol valorization has much to offer in the cost reduction of biodiesel production. To this end, various chemical or biotechnological strategies have been developed to obtain added-value products using crude glycerol as substrate. This review combines an account of our attempts to achieve a biotechnological valorization of raw glycerol with a review of appropriate literature.