Microbial Production of Oleochemicals

The current depletion of fossil fuels and the negative environmental impacts related to their vast use have created an urgent need to find alternative energy sources and sustainable bioproducts. Under this scenario, oleochemicals have emerged as an option for replacing petroderivatives in different productive sectors. Traditional sources of oleochemicals (vegetable and animal oils) have in some cases limited availability and competition with the food chain. The use of oleaginous microorganisms as source of lipids (i.e., microbial oils) avoids these constraints and represents a sustainable alternative. Furthermore, some oleaginous microorganisms are able to accumulate high amounts of lipids from different carbon sources, including those present in waste streams which will be crucial in the transition toward a circular economy. This chapter aims at disclosing the main developments in the production of microbial oils from different carbon sources by oleaginous microorganisms (yeast, fungi, bacteria, and microalgae), considering the downstream technologies and the industrial applications of the produced lipidic fraction.