Abstract
Microalgae are a promising source of lipids, with applications extending from cosmeceutical and food industry to raw materials for oleochemistry (e.g. for biofuels production). Elimination of initial high water content of the microalgae biomass culture, through concentration and drying, represent the major part of the processing cost. Therefore, nowadays, studies focus on direct extraction and/or transesterification procedures on wet cells. However, during storage of wet biomass, it is known that uncontrolled release of significant amounts of Free Fatty Acid (FFA) can occur. The main goal of this study was to characterize lipolysis during harvesting and storage of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii wet biomass.