LAUSR

Abstract Rapid population growth during the past decades has created a demand for clean energies as replacement for fossil fuels. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the ability of oleaginous fungus as a valuable feedstock in biodiesels production. Isolate ADH17 was selected as the most potent fungal isolate among 108 fungal isolates based on selective staining and lipid production. This isolate was identified as Sarocladium kiliense ADH17. Optimization of growth and lipid production using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) revealed that the highest lipid production could be obtained by 7 days incubation, initial pH of 5.5, 5.16% v/v glycerol and 1.3% w/v glucose concentrations. Optimization process resulted in 45 and 30% increase in growth and lipid production, respectively. Analysis of the extracted lipids showed that oleic (C18:1) (51%) and palmitic acids (C16:0) (35%) were dominant fatty acids. The prediction software showed that cetane number (58) and other parameters of the produced biodiesel met the European standard for biodiesel (EN 14214) requirements. Results from this study showed that S. kiliense ADH17 produced high amount of desirable fatty acids and since the obtained biodiesel met the required standards, this fungus is a promising species for biodiesel production.