Cryptococcus terricola is a promising oleaginous yeast for biodiesel production from starch through consolidated bioprocessing

Starch is considered a potential feedstock for biofuel production, particularly in light of the large-scale landfilling of food waste and other starchy materials worldwide. Lipid accumulation by oleaginous yeast is a promising method for biodiesel production from starch. However, most oleaginous yeasts are grown on monosaccharides or oligosaccharides because they cannot directly utilize starch. We therefore investigated the starch-assimilation ability of 1,200 yeasts. We found that Cryptococcus terricola could be used for fuel production through consolidated bioprocessing. C. terricola JCM 24523 exhibited the highest lipid content of 61.96% on medium with 5% starch at 10 days. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis showed that this strain produced high proportions of C16:0 and C18 fatty acids when grown on starch, which are ideal for use in biodiesel. Considering the yield and cost, lipids derived from starch using C. terricola would be a promising alternative source for biodiesel production.