Isolation, identification, and statistical optimization of a psychrotolerant Mucor racemosus for sustainable lipid production

Lipid accumulating fungi are promising tools as alternative lipid source with different applications. In this study, seven oleaginous fungal strains were isolated from dung samples from the Egyptian ecosystem which later investigated for lipid accumulation, and Mucor racemosus AH1 represented the highest one. Statistical optimization of M. racemosus AH1 for lipid production was carried out using Taguchi design. Accordingly, dry biomass, total lipids, and lipid content were 3.72 gL −1 , 1.21 gL −1 , and 32.4%, respectively. Fatty acid profile of the produced lipids at different temperatures from 5 to 35 °C was investigated using gas chromatography mass spectroscopy GC–MS. Results revealed that the best temperature range for unsaturated fatty acids production particularly polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was between 10 and 20 °C in which unsaturated fatty acids (USFAs) were higher than saturated fatty acids (SFAs); 54.47% and 43.67%, respectively. In conclusion, a promising lipid accumulating and cold-adapted M. racemosus MG547571 are considered as hopeful source of USFAs particularly oleic and linoleic acids which can be recruited for pharmaceutical applications, additionally, the high lipid yield could be exploited for biodiesel production.