Between FAMEs-Qualitative and Biomass-Quantitative: A review study on oleaginous fungi

Energy scarcity remains a major global challenge, particularly in the transition toward sustainable and secure energy systems. Fossil energy plays a pivotal role in exacerbating environmental pollution. Consequently, modern bio-refineries and bioenergy have been crucial in utilizing biomass to produce a range of high-value bio-chemicals and biofuels, all in the effort to achieve a climate-neutral future. Fungal microbial lipids could represent essential alternative raw materials for biodiesel production, which may perhaps contribute to partially addressing the problem of declining global oil production. Oleaginous fungi accumulate lipids exceeding 20% of their dry biomass, predominantly as triacylglycerols comprising saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, which closely resemble fatty acids found in vegetable oils that are currently utilized in biodiesel production. Despite the significant advantages of these fungi, large-scale industrial production of fungal lipids has not yet been commercialized. One of the most important challenges that oleaginous fungi must overcome is their ability to produce very large quantities of biomass by using very cheap raw materials, in addition to the fact that these masses contain large quantities of oils of high quality to achieve economic feasibility. This review highlights the investment possibility of oleaginous fungi in biomass-based biodiesel production, their characterization as well as in vitro screening advantages, and indicates the need for further research to improve their industrial applications and increase their efficiency.