Direct acid methylation for extraction of fatty acid content from microalgae cells.

Direct acid methylation was examined as a means for both analysis of fatty acid content in microalgal cells and biodiesel production without pretreatment. Microalgal cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Dunaliella tertiolecta were prepared and examined. It appeared that direct acid methylation extracted higher fatty acid content than the solvent-based Soxhlet extraction process.