Economical Wet Extraction of Lipid from labyrinthula Aurantiochytrium limacinum by Using Liquefied Dimethyl Ether

Recently, a simple method for the extraction of lipids from wet biomass using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) without drying, cell disruption, or heating was proposed. Here, the versatility of this method was evaluated for labyrinthula Aurantiochytrium limacinum (A. limacinum). The liquefied DME was passed through the extractor that filled by A. limacinum at different time intervals. The extraction of lipids from A. limacinum of moisture-rich microorganism was successfully achieved, the yield of lipid was 46.1 wt% of the dry weight of the sample. In comparison, the yields of lipid were 21.3 wt%, 43.6 wt% and 50.7 wt% when supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO 2 ), hexane-Soxhlet and Bligh-Dyer (BD) extraction methods were applied as extractants, respectively. However, the drying and cell-disruption process were required in SCCO 2 , hexane-Soxhlet, and BD extraction methods.