NOVELTY - Treating (M1) a microbial biomass that contains lipid and other hydrocarbon components involves: (a) applying a hydrophobic ionic liquid solvent to the biomass so that the lipid becomes at least partially dissolved in the solvent to form a lipid-solvent mixture, where the mixture contains a lipid-solvent layer on the top; and (b) separating at least part of the lipid-solvent layer from the mixture to obtain a lipid-solvent component and an at least partially delipidated component.    USE - For treating a microbial biomass selected from yeast, cyanobacteria, archea, bacteria, or algae (preferably algae), to obtain lipids and other hydrocarbon components; the lipid component is useful to produce biofuels, and the delipidated component as a food source (all claimed), the delipidated component contains valuable components such as proteins and carbohydrates, useful as food supplements for animals.    ADVANTAGE - The process is effective in extracting lipids from the biomass while retaining viability of the valuable residual components in the delipidated portion. The process provides separation of lipids using solvents that avoid denaturing high temperatures.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for the following:    (1) determining (M2) lipid composition of a microbial biomass, involving: steps (a) and (b) of the method (M1); (c) applying an anti-solvent to the lipid-solvent component so that at least 80% of the ionic liquid is removed from the lipid-solvent component, leaving a remaining lipid fraction; and (d) determining lipid composition of the remaining lipid fraction; and    (2) harvesting (M3) algal biomass rich in lipid bodies for oil extraction involving: (a) applying a hydrophobic ionic liquid (IL) solvent to a fresh culture of algae in culture medium so that the ionic liquids partially permeate the algae cells, attract the lipid bodies, and bring the cells into the IL layer; and (b) separating the cells from the culturing medium to obtain a layer of dewatered cells rich in lipid bodies.