Journal of Applied Biosciences (J. Appl. Biosci.) [ISSN 1997 - 5902]
Volume 5: 115 - 122. Published May 2008.
Biotechnological potential of Phaffia rhodozyma
Subhasita Roy, Sandipan Chatterjee, and Sukanta Kumar Sen*^
*Microbiology Division, School of Life Sciences, Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan 731 235, India
^Corresponding author email: sksenvb@rediffmail.com; Tel.: +913463261686; Fax +91-3463-262728
ABSTRACT
Pigments, anthocyanin and carotenoids are natural compounds that are attractive in color and easy to extract. Astaxanthin is the principal carotenoid pigment responsible for the distinctive orange red pigmentation in marine invertebrates, fish, birds, salmonids and crustaceans. These animals obtain the pigment through their diet, which includes various astaxanthin producing microorganisms. Among such microorganisms Phaffia rhodozyma (red yeast), produces astaxanthin as the major carotenoid. In addition to being used as food colorant, there is a growing interest in using astaxanthin as a fish feed supplement. This review examines the potential of using P. rhodozyma for large-scale production of astaxanthin.
Key words: Phaffia rhodozyma; astaxanthin; natural colorant; antioxidant; strain development;commercial production.
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