Isolation, purification and cytotoxic evaluation of lutein from mixotrophically grown Chlorella sorokiniana TH01

Mixotrophic cultivation of several microalgae simultaneously utilizing two energy sources of light and organic carbon has been reported to significantly achieve higher biomass productivity than phototrophic and heterotrophic modes. In addition, microalgae have been reported as a promising alternative source of marigold for lutein production. In this work, C. sorokiniana TH01 strain was mixotrophically grown on glucose for production of biomass and lutein. Results revealed that algal biomass productivity, lutein content and productivity reached 0.86–2.08 g/L/d, 4.62–6.89 mg/g and 3.98–14.35 mg/L/d, respectively, from 10 g/L glucose, 3 g/L NaNO3 and 2% (v/v) CO2, under light intensity of 50–500 μmol/m2/s and temperature of 27 °C for 10 days of the cultivation. The purification of lutein from the algal biomass was completed by a novel process of simultaneous cell disruption and extraction and silica-based column chromatography purification, reaching lutein purity of 98%. Moreover, the algal lutein can be preserved by solvation with 0.05 wt% ascorbic acid under temperature of