The variability of carotenoid pigments and fatty acids produced by some yeasts within Sporidiobolales and Cystofilobasidiales

Abstract

Carotenoids, ergosterol and fatty acids are valuable compounds used in many industrial applications. The conventional sources of these compounds depend on weather conditions, season, geographical location and availability of agricultural land. Therefore, it is important to search for alternative sources and increase its availability for constantly increasing demand. Production of aforementioned compounds exploiting carotenogenic yeasts is promising due to their extraordinary capability to simultaneously produce carotenoids, ergosterol and fatty acids. The present study aimed to characterise the production properties of some lesser known carotenogenic yeasts, especially members of the orders Sporidiobolales and Cystofilobasidiales. The best fatty acid producing strains were S. metaroseus CCY 19-6-20 and C. macerans CCY 10-01-02, producing 4.9 g l−1 (42% of cell dry weight—CDW) and 4 g l−1 of medium (36% of CDW), respectively. The largest amounts of carotenoids, in the range 0.8–2.1 mg g−1 of CDW, were produced by strains R. mucilaginosa CCY 19-04-06, R. toruloides CCY 62-02-04, S. pararoseus CCY 19-09-06, S. metaroseus CCY 19-6-20, C. macerans CCY 10-01-02 and C. infirmominiatum CCY 1718-04. Surprisingly, R. mucilaginosa CCY 19-04-06 produced the highest amounts of carotenoids wherein lycopene represented more than 80% of total carotenoids.