Antioxidative ability in culture of yeast Candida tropicalis pK233

Ability of scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) in yeast Candida tropicalis pK 233 was investigated. Ethanol causes pseudohyphal development in C. tropicalis pK 233 in the absence of myo-inositol. Antioxidative ability of samples was investigated through of scavenging ability for DPPH and O2sup(-). Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the culture without ethanol decreased with cell growth until 24 h and then gradually increased, while that with 4% ethanol decreased with cell growth until 48 h and remained at the decreased level. The cell culture grown with 4% ethanol showed strong scavenging ability for DPPH radical and O2sup(-), compared to that of without ethanol; this scavenging ability of ROS by the culture with 4% ethanol increased with cultivating time until 120 h. The cell culture grown with both ethanol and inositol was also able to scavenge ROS in a similar manner to that grown with 4% ethanol alone; yeast cells could be grown under these conditions. Thus, ethanol appears to enhance antioxidative ability in C. tropicalis pK 233 regardless of the presence of inositol and cell morphology.