Exploring Novel Oleaginous Yeasts from Diverse Environments for Sustainable Lipid Production

Cocoa butter is the main raw material for chocolate and other food products. However, cocoa butter production is constrained by land availability and environmental factors. Oleaginous yeasts offer a promising alternative. In this study, 103 yeast strains were isolated and screened for their lipid accumulation capacity. Among them, Papiliotrema laurentii MYL-1 produced high-level cocoa butter equivalent (CBE), accounting for 45.3% of total triacylglycerols. Under nitrogen limitation with an optimal C/N ratio of 80:1, MYL-1 achieved 58.2% fatty acids of dry cell weight, 14.9 g/L biomass, and 8.7 g/L fatty acid titer. Fed-batch cultivation in a 5-L bioreactor yielded 24.6 g/L lipids with a productivity of 0.17 g/L/h, and a balanced C16:0/C18:0 ratio near 1:1, enhancing the suitability for CBE production.