​From Waste Cooking Oil to Succinic Acid

Waste cooking oils represent an ecological issue with wide negative effects when it is not stored and recycled properly. These oils are a type of biomass that can be valorized through biotechnological processes to obtain valuable organic compounds. The residual cooking oil is a rich source of free fatty acids that can be metabolized by oleophilic microorganisms and bioconverted into different organic acids. The 'SuccinYst' project aims to use the waste cooking oil for the biosynthesis of succinic acid. Succinic acid is an organic compound with wide applicability in various industries (e.g. foods, pharmaceutics, biodegradable materials development), which can be biosynthesized by oleophilic yeasts, such as Candida zeylanoides. Within the 'SuccinYst' project, we target the sustainable use of the waste cooking oil to reduce the massive pollution of the environment (especially of the drinking water supplies), by the bioconversion of this residual biomass into valuable organic compounds such as succinic acid.