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Published on: December 15, 2017
Process Engineering Strategies for Microbial Lipid Production: From Strain Evolution to Industrial-Scale
Eusebiu Cristian Florea1,2, Adelina Gabriela Niculescu1,2, Andreea Gabriela Bratu2
1Research Institute of the University of Bucharest-ICUB, University of Bucharest, 050657 Bucharest, Romania.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|May 13, 2026
Summary
Microbial lipids offer sustainable alternatives to conventional oils. This review details process engineering strategies to overcome challenges in scaling up microbial lipid production for industrial applications.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Biochemical Engineering
Background:
- Microbial lipids are sustainable alternatives to plant and petroleum oils.
- Advances in metabolic engineering have boosted microbial lipid production.
- Economic viability of industrial-scale microbial lipid production remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review process engineering strategies for microbial lipid production.
- To bridge the gap between laboratory-scale advancements and industrial implementation.
- To identify bottlenecks and solutions for scalable microbial lipid biomanufacturing.
Main Methods:
- Examining strain evolution and optimization techniques.
- Evaluating key bioprocess parameters (substrate, nutrients, reactor design, oxygen transfer, control).
- Analyzing downstream processing and techno-economic factors.
Main Results:
- Adaptive laboratory evolution, systems-guided optimization, and robustness engineering enhance lipid production.
- Optimizing substrate selection, nutrient strategies, reactor design, and oxygen transfer is crucial for yield and productivity.
- Downstream processing and techno-economic analysis are vital for large-scale feasibility.
Conclusions:
- Integrating strain innovation with process engineering is key to efficient microbial lipid biomanufacturing.
- Addressing process engineering challenges will enable economic viability.
- Future directions focus on scalable and sustainable microbial lipid production.
Keywords:
adaptive laboratory evolutionbiomasscell disruptionfeedstocksfermentationmicrobial lipidsmicrobial oilMore Related Videos
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