Enzymatic Transesterification of Yeast Oil for Biodiesel Fuel Production
生物酶法转化酵母油脂合成生物柴油

Microbial oil obtained from a yeast strain (Rhodosporidum toruloides Y4#) by acid-heating extraction was characterized, including fatty acid analysis by gas chromatography. The oil was further explored for biodiesel production by lipase-catalyzed methanolysis. Two processes were studied, namely, three-step methanol loading in solvent-free system and all-in-one methanol loading in tert-butanol system. It was demonstrated that the microbial oil could be converted to biodiesel effectively. The biodiesel yield of about 90% could be obtained under the optimized conditions, which was slightly lower than that of refined soybean oil as the raw material.