Skip to main content
2025 AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo Main banner
Amphistar Ad
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Back
Video

2025 AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo.

Protein and Co-Products

Health and Nutrition

Precision Fermentation in Nutrition

Development of high-oleic acid oil by fermentation of microalgae

Monday, April 28, 2025
3:55 PM – 4:15 PM PST
Room: A105
Abstract: High-oleic oils are gaining increasing interest due to their nutritional benefits and functional properties. These oils are associated with improved cardiovascular health, better lipid profiles, and enhanced metabolic benefits. High-oleic oils also offer superior oxidative stability, making them valuable for both food and industrial applications. To develop a sustainable and scalable source of high-oleic oil, we employed a classical strain improvement approach to enhance the oleic acid content of an industrially relevant microbial strain. Our starting isolate contained 28% palmitic acid and 60% oleic acid. Through UV and chemical mutagenesis, we systematically improved strain productivity, carbon yield, and oleic acid composition. Using an iterative methodology, we generated mutant libraries, followed by clonal isolation and screening to assess feedstock utilization, growth, oil titer, and fatty acid composition. This approach led to the successful isolation of a strain in which oleic acid content increased from 60% to over 86% of total fatty acids. The performance of this improved strain was validated across fermentation scales ranging from 1 L to 4000 L, demonstrating its robustness and feasibility for industrial-scale production. These advances present a viable alternative to conventional oils, offering both health-conscious and sustainable solutions for food, nutraceutical, and industrial applications.