Organic nitrogen of tomato waste hydrolysate enhances glucose uptake and lipid accumulation in Cunninghamella echinulata

Aims: To investigate the effect of organic nitrogen on lipogenesis during growth of Cunninghamella echinulata on tomato waste hydrolysate (TWH) media. Methods and Results: Cunninghamella echinulata grown on a TWH medium rapidly took up glucose and produced large amounts of lipids. However, when some quantities of the organic nitrogen were removed from TWH (by acid followed by alkaline precipitation of proteins) the uptake of glucose was dramatically reduced and large quantities of fungal biomass having low lipid content were produced. Nevertheless, when glycerol was used as carbon source instead of glucose, the uptake rate as well as the biomass production and the lipid accumulation processes were unaffected by the TWH organic nitrogen removal. Finally, when the fungus was grown on a glucose supplemented TWH medium that contained no assimilable organic nitrogen (after further precipitation of proteins with methanol), the produced biomass contained non-negligible quantities of lipids, although glucose uptake remained low. Lipid analysis showed that the produced lipids comprised mainly of neutral lipids, which were preferentially consumed during lipid turnover. Lipid production on the original TWH medium having glucose as carbon source was 0.48 g of lipid per gram of dry biomass, corresponding to 8.7 g of lipid per litre of growth medium. The produced lipids contained 11.7%gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), hence the GLA yield was more than 1 g l(-1). Conclusions: Organic nitrogen compounds found in TWH favour glucose (but not glycerol) uptake and lipid accumulation in C. echinulata. Significance and Impact of the Study: Agro-industrial wastes containing organic nitrogen, such as tomato waste, are produced in vast amounts causing severe environmental problems. These wastes could be used as fermentation feedstock to produce microbial lipids.