Lipid and carotenoid production by Rhodotorula glutinis under irradiation/high-temperature and dark/low-temperature cultivation

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2014-04, Vol.157, p.149-153
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zhiping, Zhang, Xu, Tan, Tianwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Carbon - analysis; Carotenoids; Carotenoids - biosynthesis; Cold Temperature; Cultivation; Darkness; Fatty acids; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hot Temperature; Irradiation; Light; Lipids; Lipids - biosynthesis; Nitrogen - analysis; Optimization; Rhodotorula - growth & development; Rhodotorula - metabolism; Rhodotorula - radiation effects; Strategy
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.01.039

The capacity of lipid and carotenoid production by Rhodotorula glutinis was investigated under different irradiation conditions, temperatures and C/N ratios. The results showed that dark/low-temperature could enhance lipid content, while irradiation/high-temperature increased the yields of biomass and carotenoid. The optimum C/N ratio for production was between 80 and 100. A two-stage cultivation strategy was used for lipid and carotenoid production in a 5L fermenter. In the first stage, the maximum biomass reached 28.1g/L under irradiation/high-temperature. Then, the cultivation condition was changed to dark/low-temperature, and C/N ratio was adjusted to 90. After the second stage, the biomass, lipid content and carotenoid reached 86.2g/L, 26.7% and 4.2mg/L, respectively. More significantly, the yields of biomass and lipid were 43.1% and 11.5%, respectively. Lipids contained 79.7% 18C and 16.8% 16C fatty acids by GC analysis. HPLC quantified the main carotenoids were β-carotene (68.4%), torularhodin (21.5%) and torulene (10.1%).