Docosahexaenoic acid production by Schizochytrium sp.: review and prospect

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is one of the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids required for human health. Recently Schizochytrium sp. has become an ideal microorganism for the industrial production of DHA due to its advantages of easy cultivation, fast growth rate, simple fatty acid composition and high DHA content. This review focuses on the new progress about DHA extraction from Schizochytrium sp. Current efforts about the screening and improvement of Schizochytrium sp., optimization of the fermentation, lipid extraction and DHA purification were discussed. Meanwhile, the different routes involved in DHA synthesis in Schizochytrium sp. were described. At last, we propose that breeding of stable high DHA-yielding Schizochytrium sp., exploring low-cost and high-efficiency fermentation substrates, and clarifying DHA synthesis pathways are the future research priorities.