Method for culturing oleaginous yeasts

Sugar-based feedstock, such as glucose and xylose, have been traditionally used as substrates for microbial production due they are easily assimilated by most oleaginous yeasts. However, the use of glucose can account for up to 80% of the entire production process. In this sense, the utilization of organic wastes as carbon sources will boost the economic viability of the microbial lipids production process. SCFAs are organic acids that can be sustainably produced during the anaerobic fermentation (AF) of wastes after the hydrolytic and acidogenic stages. Although it has been proven that yeasts can use these SCFAs as a carbon source, the available information about the oleaginous yeasts’ metabolism when using SCFAs is still scarce. This invention bridges this gap of knowledge, with a method for lipid accumulation in Y. lipolytica using SCFAs derived from the AF of wastes. In particular, yeast growth, SCFAs uptake and lipid content (% w/w) are taken into account on real and synthetic SCFAs-rich media and the effect of Ca and PO43- in yeast metabolism has been elucidated.