Valorization of Palm Oil Mill Effluent into Lipid and Cell-Bound Lipase by Marine Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica and Their Application in Biodiesel Production

Purpose This study aimed to valorize palm oil mill effluent (POME) into lipid and lipase by marine yeast Yarrowia lipolytica and to evaluate their application in biodiesel production. Methods Several strains of Yarrowia lipolytica were cultivated in POME and the most promising strain was selected and its culture conditions were optimized. After optimization, the yeast cells were harvested and its cell-bound lipase was characterized. Finally, both yeast lipid and cell-bound lipase were applied for biodiesel production through direct transesterification without cell drying and lipid extraction steps. Results All yeast strains grew well on POME and accumulated lipid >33 % but only Y. lipolytica TISTR 5151 possessed high activity of cell-bound lipase (610 +/- 87 U/L). After process optimization, the selected Y. lipolytica TISTR 5151 produced lipid and cell-bound lipase at the highest levels of 1.64 +/- 0.03 g/L and 3353 +/- 27 U/L, respectively. In the direct transesterification reaction, the cell-bound lipase could transesterify lipid from the wet yeast cells and produced 40.9 % of fatty acid methyl esters. Conclusions The ability of this yeast for valorization of POME into lipid and lipase and its possible application in direct transesterification process, may contribute greatly to economical and environment-friendly biodiesel production.