Patent ID: 8741628

Claim:
An integrated process for the production of oil bearing Chlorella variabilis for lipid extraction utilizing by-products of Jatropha methyl ester (JME) production from whole seeds of Jatropha and the process comprising the steps of: i) providing deoiled cake as by-product of Jatropha methyl ester (JME) production having 4-6% (w/w) nitrogen of Jatropha seeds; ii) hydrolyzing the deoiled cake as provided in step (i) with hot acidic aqueous solution followed by adjusting pH in the range of 5.5 to 8.5 with alkaline materials to obtain a nitrogen-rich Jatropha oil cake hydrolysate (JOCH); iii) providing crude glycerol containing methanol-depleted glycerol layer containing by product of JME production obtained by washing crude fatty acid methyl ester obtained by transesterification of oil obtained from Jatropha with methanol and then distilling off residual methanol; iv) adding 1-5% (w/v) of crude glycerol containing methanol-depleted glycerol as provided in step (iii) to 1-10% (v/v) of Jatropha oil cake hydrolysate as obtained in step (ii) to prepare growth and production medium for Chlorella variabilis; v) inoculating 1-10% (v/v) of Chlorella variabilis culture into growth and production medium as obtained in step (iv) and incubating for a period in the range of 7 to 15 days at a pH in the range of 7.0-8.0 at a temperature in the range of 25-40° C. to obtain lipid containing biomass; vi) optionally inoculating 1-10% (v/v) of Chlorella variabilis culture into growth and production medium as obtained in step (iv) and adding UV-specific dye during outdoor biomass production to protect from UV damage at a temperature in the range of 40-50° C. to maintain the viability of the culture, and incubating for a period in the range of 7 to 15 days at a pH in the range of 7.0-8.0 at a temperature in the range of 25-40° C. to obtain lipid containing biomass; vii) drying the biomass as obtained in step (v to vi) in sun or directly using the wet biomass for lipid extraction; viii) extracting the lipid from biomass as obtained in step (vii).