Improvement of Carotenoid Pigments Produced by Rhodotorula glutinis
Abstract: Wild strain of the red yeast Rhodotorula glutinis was isolated from different food sources (dates, milk,
sausage, and sugarcane). Trails for studying the carotenoids productivity of this strain [volumetric production (μg/l)
and cellular carotenoids (μg/g)] were carried out using different carbon sources, nitrogen sources, organic acids and
mineral salts. The major carotenoid pigments comprising ß-carotene, torulene and torularhodi. It was found that at
2% glucose the wild strain of R. glutinis gave highest volumetric production (165 μg/l). The wild strain of R. glutinis
was subjected to mutagenesis using U.V radiation (254 nm) for two minutes. The highest volumetric production
(μg/l) and cellular carotenoid accumulation (μg/g) were 369 μg/l and 46 μg/g after 96 and 24 hours; respectively.
[Hany M. Yehia, Ebtesam M. Al- Olayan, Manal F. Elkhadragy, Abd-El-Rahman M. Khalaf- Allah and Nagwa M.
El-Shimi. Improvement of Carotenoid Pigments Produced by Rhodotorula Glutinis. Life Sci J 2013;10(4):386-
400] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com.
