Phospholipids in Algae for Biodiesel Production

Introduction Biodiesel producers have long recognized the need for new sources of oil feedstock if biodiesel is to continue displacing petroleum-based diesel fuel. One potential source of oil that could minimize competition with food crops is microbial oil, with photosynthetic algae being the most widely studied option. An understanding of algal lipids, their native biochemistry and interactions once extracted, is essential to the process of learning to make the production of biofuels from algal oils more efficient and economically viable. An issue with the use of algal oils is that they frequently contain large amounts of phospholipids, which are essential components of cell walls and may be extracted from solid biomass when the oil is separated [1].