Isolation and optimization of production of Astaxanthin from Antarctic yeast Rhodotorula sp. NJ298

Rhodotorula sp. NJ298 which could produce carotenoids was isolated from Antarctic sea ice. The major carotenoid was identified as astaxanthin by Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS), and its content accounted for 87.62% of total carotenoids (1,786 μg/g). High Performance Liquid Chromatogrephy (HPLC) analysis showed that the purity of the astaxanthin reached about 96.16% through a simple purification. Maximum astaxanthin production (1,908 μg/g) was obtained when the yeast was grown at 10 ℃ in seawater medium containing 5 g/L sodium acetate, 5 g/L peptone, 0.5 g/L NaCl, 0.01 g/L KH2PO4; 0.01 g/L MgSO4·7H2O and 0.001 g/L FeSO4·7H2O at pH 7.5.