ABSTRACT
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have been the most important target among microbial lipids, what is called single-cell oils (SCO).1 Among PUFAs, SCOs including gamma-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3n-6) became the first industrial scale product about 18 years ago in Japan2 and the UK. This was caused by a rather scarce distribution of GLA in the main plant oil resources, and its function of anti-inflammation, antithrombosis, and antiallergy. Recent attention has focused more on PUFAs with longer carbon chains (C20 and C22), such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and arachidonic acid (AA), than GLA.
