SUMMARY
Background: Dependence on fossil resources, for the production of fuels and energy, has resulted in
environmental and financial problems, which require our immediate action in order to reverse the situation.
Use of renewable sources for the production of fuels and energy is an important alternative with biodiesel
remains as one of the promising options. Aim of this work is to evaluate the fungus Fusarium oxysporum for its
potentials to accumulate microbial lipids when grown on synthetic media and saccharified sweet sorghum stalks.
Results: The effect of different carbon sources, nitrogen sources and C/N ratio on the lipid production was initially
examined, which resulted in a lipid concentration of 4.4 g/L, with lipid content of 42.6% w/w. Sweet sorghum
stalks were able to support growth and lipid production of the fungus, both as carbon source and as nitrogen
source. It was also shown that saccharification of the dried stalks is an important step to increase lipid
production. Removal of the remaining stalk solids enabled the lipid production during cultivation in increased
initial solids of up to 16 w/w. This resulted in a lipid production of 3.81 g/L.
Conclusions: It was demonstrated that F. oxysporum can be used as an efficient oleaginous microorganism, with
sweet sorghum serving as an excellent raw material for the cultivation of the fungus. The lipids obtained
during this work were also found to have a fatty acid profile with good potentials to be used for biodiesel
production.