Fungal Biorefinery for the Production of Single Cell Oils as Advanced Biofuels

Abstract

Biofuel production from edible substrate raises a social conflict because it hikes the food price, occupies the arable land and competes with the food industry. Therefore, microbial oils or single cell oils (SCOs) have attracted the attention as suitable alternative of triglycerides. A variety of microbes have been studied such as microalgae, bacteria, yeast and fungi. A comprehensive study for the functionality of fungi in the purpose of biofuel synthesis is not addressed yet. This chapter describes the biorefinery concept of fungi to biofuels, which includes their culture techniques, culture medium, growth, SCO extraction and transesterification of SCO. It also compares the first-generation to third-generation biofuels.