Extraction of microbial oil from Aspergillus niger and preparation of a sustainable growth medium for the same

Abstract

Depending on their fatty-acid profile, microbial oils have many industrial applications such as manufacturing biodiesel, nutraceuticals, essential oils and soaps. Our study aimed to extract microbial oil from Aspergillus niger and to study the biochemical characteristics of the extracted oil. Another approach of this study was to find a sustainable way of growing A. niger by using agro waste as a nutrient source; for this purpose, a growth medium was prepared from waste onion peels. Our findings indicate that A. niger oil could contain high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids as well as can be used as an antimicrobial agent against Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, the growth medium prepared was suitable to culture A. niger. Using onion peels will not only help reduce the upstream-processing cost of microbial oil production but will also contribute to adequate management of the agro waste, consequently, reducing its negative impact on the environment.