Production of Carotenoid Pigment from Oleaginous Yeast (Rhodotorula sp.) using Agricultural Wastes as Substrates

Author : Punzalan, Gewelle Mae Legaspi
Major Adviser : Detras, Monet Concepcion M.
Major Co-Adviser : Pajares, Irene G.
Committee Members : Capunitan, Jewel A.; Migo-Sumagang, Maria Victoria P.;
Year : 2020
Month : July
Type : Thesis
Degree: BS
Related Articles: 
Keywords: 
This manuscript can be accessed: Only by those bound by confidentiality agreement

Abstract

Carotenoids are naturally derived from plants and microorganisms. In contrast to plant production, the growth conditions of microorganisms can be easily controlled. In a fermentation process, the media components cover a significant portion of production cost. To resolve this, an alternative solution was made by reusing the agricultural wastes as substrates for fermentation. This study explored the potential of agricultural wastes as substrates for carotenoid pigment production of Rhodotorula sp. The carotenoid yield under optimum conditions and the production cost to produce such yield of potential agricultural wastes (i.e. tomato pomace, sago starch hydrolysate, orange, rice bran, sugarcane molasses, sugarcane bagasse, onion peels, mung bean husks, pineapple, pomegranate, and chicken feathers) were assessed. Then, a comparative analysis between the highest carotenoid yield at a lower production cost determined which were the best agricultural substrates. It showed that onion peel and mung bean husk mixture, and sago starch hydrolysate were the best agricultural substrates with 7.10 mg/L and 8.10 mg/L carotenoid yields, respectively, (Sharma & Ghoshal, 2019; and Lau et al., 2018) which cost ₱7.32 and ₱7.62 per mg of carotenoid, respectively. Based on the analysis of carotenoid and biomass production, incubation period, temperature, pH, carbon sources, nitrogen sources, metal ions and agitation are some of the factors that affect the microbial fermentation. For the media development, it should be better to acquire the best agricultural wastes combination and optimize several parameters that are necessary to increase the yield of carotenoids.


Go back to Research Abstracts