Patent ID: 7351558

Claim:
A process for obtaining lipids from microorganisms comprising: a) growing said microorganisms in a fermentation medium to produce a fermentation broth; b) contacting said fermentation broth with a base to dissolve at least a part of any proteins present in said fermentation broth; c) increasing the temperature of said fermentation broth to at least about 50° C. to lyse cells of said microorganisms to produce a lysed cell mixture; d) separating substances of different densities from said lysed cell mixture to produce a phase separated mixture comprising a heavy layer and a light layer wherein said heavy layer comprises an aqueous solution and said light layer comprises emulsified lipids; e) removing said heavy layer from said phase separated mixture; f) adding an aqueous washing solution to said light layer to form a further mixture; g) separating substances of different densities from said mixture of step (f) to produce an additional phase separated mixture comprising an additional heavy layer and an additional light layer; h) removing said additional heavy layer from said additional phase separated mixture; and i) repeating said steps (f)-(h) until said lipid becomes substantially non-emulsified; whereby lipids are obtained from microorganisms.