Acetate enhances citric acid production by Yarrowia lipolytica when grown on sunflower oil.

It was discovered that the addition of 10 g/l acetate to a medium containing 30 g/l sunflower oil caused a drastic increase in citric acid production by Yarrowia lipolytica UOFS Y-1701 i.e. from 0.5 g/l in the absence of acetate to 18.7 g/l in the presence of acetate. Similarly, the ratio of citric acid:isocitric acid increased significantly from 1.7:1 in the absence of acetate to 3.7:1 in the presence of acetate after 240 h of growth.