FUNGI APPLICATION IN BIOFUEL PRODUCTION

Biofuels from biomass are valid alternatives to fossil fuels. Currently, biofuels production assisted by fungi is not widely used. Nevertheless, scientific communities agree in considering fungi a promising tool to enhance the production, especially of biodiesel. Fungi can biosynthesize and storage large amounts of fatty acids (oil) in their biomass. A fungal microorganism that can be used in biodiesel production is Trichosporon fermentans. Another application of fungi is for microalgae. Microalgae have several advantages in the production of biofuels, e.g. high growth rate, high lipid yield and proper composition of essential fatty acids. Nevertheless, their harvesting is challenging. Addition of filamentous fungi to microalgae cultures seems to assist microalgal flocculation, like the addiction of Aspergillus fumigatus to a cultivation of Chlorella protothecoides and Tetraselmis suecica. Fungi can also be used as feedstocks for the production of biofuels. Their biomass can be converted via pyrolysis into straight chain C12 to C21 alkanes that can be directly used as blending components of biodiesel. This contribution presents an overview of strategies for fungi assisted processes to improve oil-based biofuels production from biomass. Understanding how to optimize culture conditions of specific fungal strains is a valid approach to use low-cost agro-industrial residues to biosynthesize and storage fatty acids.