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

The production of carotenoids, lipid content,and fatty acid composition were all studied in a strain ofSporobolomyces ruberrimusof technical glycerol as the carbon source and ammoniumsulfate as the nitrogen source. The total lipids represented anaverage of 13% of the dry weight, and the maximum lipidswere obtained when using 65.5 g/l technical glycerol (133.63 mg/g). The optimal conditions for fatty acid production were at27oC using 20 g of ammonium sulfate and a pH range from 6to 7, which produced a fatty acid yield of 32.5±1 mg/g,including 1.27±0.15 mg of linolenic acid (LNA), 7.50±0.45 mg0.60±0.03 mg of palmitoleic acid (PAL), 1.28±0.1 mg of stearicacid (SA), 9.09±0.22 mg of oleic acid, 2.50±0.10 mg of erucicacid (EA), and 4.25±0.20 mg of lignoceric acid (LCA), wherethe palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids combined formed about 37%of the total fatty acids. The concentration of total carotenoidswas 2.80 mg/g when using 20 g of amonium sulfate, andconsisted of torularhodin (2.70 mg/g) and β-carotene (0.10 mg/g), at 23oC and pH 6. However, the highest amount with themax=0.096 h-1)with an ammonium sulfate concentration of 30 g/l. KCI Citation Count: 14