LAUSR

BACKGROUND Astaxanthin is a carotenoid with strong antioxidant property. In addition, it has anti-cancer, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and many other functions. The microorganisms that mainly produce astaxanthin are Haematococcus pluvialis and Phaffia rhodozyma. Compared with H. pluvialis, P. rhodozyma has shorter fermentation cycle and easier to control culture conditions, but the yield of astaxanthin in P. rhodozyma is low. This paper studied how to improve the astaxanthin production of P. rhodozyma. RESULTS The results showed that when 10 mL/L soybean oil was added to the culture medium, astaxanthin production increased significantly, reached 7.35 mg/L, which was 1.4 times of the control group, and lycopene and β-carotene contents also increased significantly. Through targeted metabolite analysis, the fatty acids in P. rhodozyma significantly increased under the soybean oil stimulation, especially the fatty acids closely related to the formation of astaxanthin esters, included palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1n9), linoleic acid (C18:2n6), α-linolenic acid (C18:3n3) and γ-linolenic acid (C18:3n6), thereby increasing the astaxanthin esters content. CONCLUSION It showed that the addition of soybean oil can promote the accumulation of astaxanthin by promoting the increase of astaxanthin ester content. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.