Biodiesel Production from Oleaginous Fungi

Biodiesel involves the mixture of fatty acyl methyl/ethyl esters, produced from transesterification neutral lipids and if the origin of the source is from oleaginous micro organisms, then it is termed as micro diesel. In the present work, aiming to exploit fungi for biodiesel production, 12 fungal isolates were screened for lipid content by Sudan Black B staining method. Among 12 isolates, lipid rich five species viz, Mortierella alpina , M.ramanianna, M.vinancea, M.hyalina and M.verticella have been taken for fatty acids analysis by spectrophotometry, which revealed that the amount of free fatty acids were ranged from highest in M.alpina 35 ?moles of Oleic acid , 25 ?moles of Palmitic acid and 14 ?moles of Myristic acids to lower as much as 21 ?moles of Oleic acid , 18 ?moles of Palmitic acid and 16 ?moles of Myristic acids respectively in M.ramanianna