STUDIES CONCERNIMG THE OBTAINMENT OF ASTAXANTHIN, AN IMPORTANT NATURAL PIGMENT USED IN COSMETIC, FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES

Carotenoid pigments (CP) are natural compounds which impart to the tissues wherethey occur, a yellow, orange, red and even blue color. They are precursors ofvitamins A, B12, D3 and can not be biosynthesized by any animal taxonomic groupincluding man. In plants they avoid chlorophyll bleaching and destruction of somebiological active substances like citocroms, peroxidases, catalase, flavonoidicpigments, vitamins B12, E, K etc./1/. They are used in cosmetics, in aquaculture,poultry farming, in food industry as antioxidants and natural colorants for drinksand dairy products, as fodder additives for color, organoleptic and biologicalqualities improvement. Due to the restrictive use in food industry or as fodderadditives of the synthetically obtained CP, though they are less expensive, thebiotechnologies based on carotenogenic yeasts, in particular for astaxanthinproduction, are now reconsidered even if the bioprocesses are more costly. Newsources identification and economic efficiency and feasibility of CP obtainmentprocesses are a constant challenge, especially since recent studies pointed out CProle in medicine for prevention and treatment of some chronic maladies like cancer,arteriosclerosis, cataract, cardiovascular diseases, immunodeficiency’s syndromes,brain dysfunctions, etc./2-4/. with a great occurrence in human population. Thispaper presents a technological model at laboratory scale for the red-violaceuspigment Astaxanthin (3,3'-dehidroxy-β,β'-caroten-4,4'dione) obtainment with theSporobolomycetous yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous DSMZ 5626 [ICCF338].The yeast was screened for genetic purity and media and cultivating conditionswere studied. The pigment was extracted and separated chromatographically fromthe alkaline treated wet biomass, for cell wall disruption. The separated Astaxanthinwas diluted with sunflower oil up to a content of 50 μg/ml. The product can beconditioned as soft capsules, or as it is as food supplement for human and veterinary use.