Microbial oils

Thus, by the 1960s, there seemed to be no arguable case in favor of microbial oils being an economic proposition. And yet today, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, we have at least four microbial oils that are, or have been, in full-scale production, with the prospect that others may soon follow. 

In this review, we aim to provide details of microbial oils that have been considered of commercial potential and to describe in more detail those microbial systems that are in commercial operation to provide key fatty acids for the expanding... 

TABLE 2. Fatty Acid Profiles of GLA-SCOs—Microbial Oils Rich in Gamma-Linolenic Acid (18 3 n-6)—in Comparison with Plant Sources of GLA [Adapted from (4) and 6)]. 

The high price of cocoa butter at this time then made it an attractive target to emulate. A sufficient margin of profit was considered possible if a microbial oil could be produced that mimicked the fatty acid profile of cocoa butter and, most importantly, had the same melting profile as cocoa butter. This manifests itself... 

TABLE 3. Fatty Acid Profiles of CBE-SCOs—Microbial Oils for use as a Cocoa Butter Equivalent—in Comparison with Cocoa Butter. 

As already discussed, the cost of SCO manufacture is high because of the high capital costs involved in the construction of large fermenters and associated machinery as well as in the costs of operation. If a microbial oil is to be exploited commercially, then the SCO must command a premium price (32, 33). In reahty, this means that microbial sources for oils can only be a commercial reality if the SCO produced is (1) destined for human consumption and (2) not readily available from traditional sources, either plant or animal. 

TABLE 4. Fatty Acid Profiles of Microbial Oils Rich in Arachidonic Acid and Docosahexaenoic Acid that are Produced Commercially (from 55). 

We are extremely grateful to Professor Sakayu Shimizu, Kyoto University, Japan, for providing information about the current commercialization of microbial oils in Japan. We are also indebted to Dr. David Kyle, Advanced BioNutrition Corp., MD, for his perceptive reading of this manuscript and for his shrewd comments. 

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