Fatty Acid and Carotenoid Production by Sporobolomyces ruberrimus when Using Technical Glycerol and Ammonium Sulfate

The production of carotenoids, lipid content, and fatty acid composition were all studied in a strain of Sporobolomyces ruberrimus when using different concentrations of technical glycerol as the carbon source and ammonium sulfate as the nitrogen source. The total lipids represented an average of 13% of the dry weight, and the maximum lipids were obtained when using 65.5 g/l technical glycerol (133.63 mg/g). The optimal conditions for fatty acid production were at $27^{\circ}C$ using 20 g of ammonium sulfate and a pH range from 6 to 7, which produced a fatty acid yield of $32.5{\pm}1\;mg/g$, including $1.27{\pm}0.15\;mg$ of linolenic acid (LNA), $7.50{\pm}0.45\;mg$ of linoleic acid (LLA), $5.50{\pm}0.35\;mg$ of palmitic acid (PA), $0.60{\pm}0.03\;mg$ of palmitoleic acid (PAL), $1.28{\pm}0.11\;mg$ of stearic acid (SA), $9.09{\pm}0.22\;mg$ of oleic acid, $2.50{\pm}0.10\;mg$ of erucic acid (EA), and $4.25{\pm}0.20\;mg$ of lignoceric acid (LCA), where the palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids combined formed about 37% of the total fatty acids. The concentration of total carotenoids was 2.80 mg/g when using 20 g of ammonium sulfate, and consisted of torularhodin (2.70 mg/g) and $\beta$-carotene (0.10 mg/g), at $23^{\circ}C$ and pH 6. However, the highest amount with the maximum specific growth rate was obtained (${\mu}_{max}=0.096\;h^{-1}$) with an ammonium sulfate concentration of 30 g/l.