One way of exploiting natural carbohydrates as energy sources is to use carbohydrate-based microbial oils,because they consist of fatty acids similar to those of the
plant oils (5). There is a small number of microorganisms in nature that can convert carbohydrates into oils and store these energy sources under appropriate conditions.
Lipid-producing (oleaginous) microorganisms have been known for many years, and their potential as alternative sources of plant oils has been periodically assessed
(6,7). The majority of those lipids in these organisms are triacylglycerols (TAG), containing long-chain