microwave assisted lipid extraction of oven dried samples enabled maximum lipid recovery for Scenedesmus sp. which is similar to the findings of the present study. Guldhe et al. (2014) also observed microwave assisted lipid extraction to provide higher yields than ultrasonication. The efficient heating of the whole sample with microwave resulted in better cell disruption, solvent movement, and hence lipid extraction efficiencies (Iqbal and Theegala, 2013). In comparison, osmotic shock with 10% NaCl resulted in lower lipid yields and which may be a consequence of insufficient cell disruption achieved using this method. The longer time required with osmotic shock (two days) is also a limitation of this process.