An improved process for cell disruption and astaxanthin extraction from Phaffia rhodozyma

Phaffia rhodozyma is one of the most important natural sources of the carotenoid astaxanthin, and the key process for extracting intracellular astaxanthin is disrption of the thick cell wall. In this work, an improved process for cell disruption and astaxanthin extraction from Phaffica rhodozyma was studied using an autoclave at low acid concentration. Under the optimum conditions (HCl 0.5 M and autoclave pressure 0.1 Mpa, 15 min), the relative residual astaxanthin and astaxanthin extractability reached 90.4 +/- 3.5% and 84.8 +/- 3.2%, respectively. The scanning electron microscopy pictures showed that all yeast cells shattered into fragments after autoclave treatment at low acid concentration condition, whereas cells were intact or partly broken after treatment by some other physical and chemical processes. This new method left no residual toxin and gavehigher extraction recovery, with good prospects for industrial use.