Method for enhancing the efficiency of oil extraction process

A method for extracting a microbial oil comprising one or more polyunsaturated fatty acids from a fermentation broth containing oleaginous microorganisms, comprising:

• (a) lysing the oleaginous microorganisms in the fermentation broth to form a lysed cell composition;
• (b) removing water from the lysed cell composition wherein the volume of the lysed cell composition is reduced to less than 60% of its original volume;
• (c) heating up the lysed cell composition as obtained in step (b) to a temperature of 60° C. to 110° C.;
• and
• (d) recovering the microbial oil from the lysed cell composition.

A method for extracting a microbial oil comprising one or more polyunsaturated fatty acids from a fermentation broth containing oleaginous microorganisms, comprising:

• (a) removing water from the fermentation broth wherein the volume of the fermentation broth is reduced to less than 60% of its original volume;
• (b) lysing the oleaginous microorganisms in the fermentation broth to form a lysed cell composition;
• (c) heating up the lysed cell composition as obtained in step (b) to a temperature of 60° C. to 110° C.;
• and
• (d) recovering the microbial oil from the lysed cell composition.

A method for enhancing demulsification of a fermentation broth containing lysed oleaginous microorganisms, comprising:

• a) removing water from an original volume of the fermentation broth to reduce the original volume of the fermentation broth containing lysed oleaginous microorganisms in an amount of 60% to 80% to thereby obtain a reduced volume of dewatered fermentation broth containing lysed oleaginous microorganisms;
• b) demulsifying the dewatered fermentation broth containing lysed oleaginous microorganisms by heating the dewatered fermentation broth to a temperature of 60° C. to 110° C. so as to obtain a demulsified fermentation broth in a time that is reduced by at least 12 hours as compared to the time needed for demulsifying the fermentation broth if step a) is not performed;
• and
• c) conducting a solventless extraction of oil from the demulsified fermentation broth to thereby recover the oil therefrom;
• wherein
• less than 0.15 wt. % of salts or no salts are used during oil extraction processing according to steps a) and b).