**Abstract**

Marine algae rich in n-3 PUFA, being a natural and readily available resource, could be an alternative to fish oil derived n-3 PUFA; therefore, it could be of immense potentiality in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. This highlights the sustainable benefits of algae and the many potential gains in creating algal bio-factories. In recent years, the use of lipase as biocatalysts had drawn considerable attention. Lipase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes lipids, the ester bonds in triglycerides, to form fatty acids and glycerol. Among the lipases assayed, the enzyme from the yeast *Candida cylindracea* is of special interest, as these are proved to be a nonspecific catalyst for many (commercially) interesting reactions such as the modification of oils and fats, reactions in organic solvents, and resolution of racemic mixtures. Hence, the enrichment of microalgae using biolipase from the source *Candida cylindracea* is of particular attention. Lipase action of *Candida cylindracea* is investigated as a function of time. It is observed that the lipases display a significant preference to saturated fatty acids; however, the resistance to release EPA and DHA was less as the hydrolysis reaction progresses.

**Keywords:** marine algae, lipase, PUFA, phospholipids, biofuels
