Patent 7781193 was granted and assigned to Martek Biosciences on August, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The present invention provides a method for extracting lipids from microorganisms without using organic solvent as an extraction solvent. In particular, the present invention provides a method for extracting lipids from microorganisms by lysing cells and removing water soluble compound and/or materials by washing the lysed cell mixtures with aqueous washing solutions until a substantially non-emulsified lipid is obtained.