This study aimed to evaluate the effect of medium composition and culture conditions on lipid content, fatty acid profile and biomass production by the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica QU21. Lipid production by the yeast growing on glycerol/(NH4)(2)SO4 (10%/0.1%) reached 1.48 g/L (30.1% according to total cell dry weight). When glycerol was replaced by crude glycerol (industrial waste), the lipid yield was 1.27 g/L, with no significant difference. Some particular fatty acids were found when crude glycerol was combined with fresh yeast extract (FYE, brewery waste), as linolenic acid (C18:3n3), eicosadienoic acid (C20:2), eicosatrienoic acid (C20:3n3) and eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n3). In addition, the FYE promoted an increase of more than 300% on polyunsaturated fatty acid content (PUFA), which is an undesirable feature for biodiesel production. The fatty acid composition of the oil produced by Y. lipolytica QU21 growing on crude glycerol/(NH4)(2)SO4 presented a potential use as biodiesel feedstock, with low PUFA content. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.