Increase of the Lycopene Production in the Recombinant Strains of Escherichia coli by Supplementing with Fructose

Lycopene is an important carotenoid which has been widely used as functional foods and feed supplements, and pharmaceutical compounds. In the present study, the host strain and the auxiliary carbon source were optimized to enhance the lycopene yield in the recombinant Escherichia coli. The results showed that lycopene concentration of the cells could be significantly increased when the recombinant strain was grown on the LB medium supplemented with 6 g l−1 fructose, whereas glucose has little effect. Under the optimized conditions, the recombinant bacteria could exhibited a lycopene yield up to 1,050 mg l−1 for 24 h in a 250 ml baffled flask. This is the first report of enhancing lycopene production by supplementing with fructose.