Pressing extraction: A novel and environmentally sustainable approach to microbial lipid extraction from Yarrowia lipolytica

• Lipids were extracted from granulated Yarrowia lipolytica using a pressing method. • Under optimal conditions, lipid extraction yielded about 88 %. • The granulated oleaginous yeast remained stable for over a year in storage. • LCA showed pressing extraction is greener than solvent extraction. Microbial lipid extraction typically involves cell disruption in a wet state followed by organic solvent extraction, but this method has low efficiency and complex processing steps. In contrast, pressing extraction offers an environmentally friendly and far simpler alternative. Although widely used for extracting lipids from seeds like sesame and perilla, this technique has not been applied to yeast. In this study, we adapted pressing extraction to produce microbial lipids from the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica . An engineered Y. lipolytica strain, containing 45.8 % lipids, was pasteurized…