Abstract: A method of separating edible oil from biological material is disclosed. A biomass slurry containing microbial material in an aqueous suspension is collected. The slurry is typically placed in a centrifuge and then in a homogenizer. The resulting slurry is fed into a contacting device, such as a packed column, and mixed with a solvent that is essentially immiscible in water, for example hexane. The solvent extracts the oil from the biomass slurry and then separates from the slurry. Edible oil is recovered from the solvent and further processed.