Biomass and carotenoid pigment production by patagonian native yeast

LIBKIND, DIEGO; MOLINÉ, MARTÍN; DE GARCÍA, VIRGINIA; VAN BROOCK, MARÍA ROSA

Capital Federal, Buenos Aires

Congreso; Biolatina - VII Congreso Latinoamericano de Biotecnología , III Congreso Argentino de Biotecnología; 2006

Felaeb - Fab

Carotenoids represent a group of valuable molecules for the pharmaceutical, chemical, food and feed industries, not only because they can act as vitamin A precursors, but also for their antioxidant and possible tumour-inhibiting activity. New yeast isolates from unexplored habitats in northern Patagonia were studied for the production of biomass and carotenoids as the first step towards the selection of hyper-producing strains and the design of a process optimization approach.  The pigmented yeast strains studied belonged to the genera Rhodotorula, Rhodosporidium, Sporobolomyces, Sporidiobolus and Cystofilobasidium. Patagonian yeast isolates considered as potential biomass and carotenoid sources were propagated in an incubator shaker and studied using ammonium sulphate and urea as nitrogen sources in semi-synthetic medium (MMS), and agro-industrial byproducts (cane molasses, corn syrup, raw malt extract) as carbon sources. Maximum pigment production (300 ug g-1) was achieved by Rhodotorula mucilaginosa CRUB 0195 and by the novel species Cystofilobasidium “lacus-mascardii” CRUB 1046 employing MMS. High biomass yields but low carotenoid pigment synthesis were obtained when agro-industrial byproducts based medium were used in the cultures. TLC and HPLC analysis of the pigment extracts indicated that b-carotene, torulene and torularhodin were the major carotenoids present in all strains. b-carotene was also detected though in a lower concentration along with a few other unknown pigments. The present study allowed the selection of pigmented yeast strains with potential application in the biotecnological production of carotenoid pigments.