Metabolite analysis of soybean oil on promoting astaxanthin production of Phaffia rhodozyma

Abstract BACKGROUND Astaxanthin is a carotenoid with strong antioxidant property. In addition, it has anti‐cancer, anti‐tumor, anti‐inflammatory and many other functions. The micro‐organisms 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 article studied how to improve the astaxanthin production of P . rhodozyma . RESULTS The results showed that when 10 mL L −1 soybean oil was added to the culture medium, astaxanthin production increased significantly, reaching 7.35 mg L −1 , which was 1.4 times that 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. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.