Production of carotenoids by submerged culture of the yeast Rhodotorula glutinis employing statistical tool

• Grant number: 22/10809-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Valéria de Carvalho Santos Ebinuma
• Grantee: Júlio Gabriel Oliveira de Lima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCFAR). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06686-8 - Biotechnological process for the development of natural colorants from microbial sources for industrial application: phase II, AP.BIOEN.JP2

Abstract

Carotenoids are fat-soluble pigments that can present yellow, orange and red colors and can be biosynthesized by plants, bacteria, fungi and algae, and may have biological properties, such as antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The biosynthesis of carotenoids by yeast is influenced by nutritional and physical factors, due to these factors, the use of experimental designs for studies of production improvement is advantageous, as it can minimize the number of tests without compromising the quality of the information. Thus, the present project aims to enhance the production of carotenoids, mainly torularodine, by submerged cultivation of the yeast Rhodotorula glutinis in a rotary shaker using experimental designs. Therefore, the yeast R. glutinis CCT-2186 will be cultivated in different culture media, using as basic medium the medium composed of: glucose, KH2PO4, MgSO4.7H2O, KCl, ZnSO4, NH4NO3 and asparagine. At first, different nitrogen sources will be evaluated in order to replace asparagine, later, the Plackett-Burman planning will be carried out followed by a Central Composite Rotational Design. Sequentially, it will evaluate the insertion of different amino acids. As a next step, the influence of five colors of light on the production of carotenoids will be studied, followed by the evaluation of excretion in a medium containing detergents and fatty acids. Finally, tests will be carried out in a stirred-tank benchtop bioreactor with a useful volume of 4L at different agitation rates. In addition, the in vitro antibacterial potential of the extract containing carotenoids will be determined. Given the above, with the development of this project it is expected to increase the production of carotenoids, especially torularodine by the yeast R. glutinis. (AU)