ABSTRACT
The potential of microbial systems to produce oils and fats on a large scale has been recognized for over 100 years, but only within the past 10 years has this potential been transformed into a successful commercial process. During the intense political and economic turmoil of World Wars I and II, research and development in microbial oil production was driven by strategic defense issues. In peacetime, the strategic defense drives were replaced by the utilization of industrial wastes (e.g., whey from cheese production), or alternative, lower cost production systems for the equivalent of highvalue oils produced by specialty crops (e.g., cocoa butter, and evening primrose oil substitutes). Although these incentives led to rapid development of the understanding of the capabilities of growing oleaginous microbes in deep tank culture, the improving efficiencies of agricultural production and global distribution dropped worldwide oilseed prices to levels at which microbial production was simply not economically competitive.
