Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Carotenoids are an attractive class of tetraterpenoid pigmented compounds naturally produced by diverse organisms including plants and numerous fungi and bacteria. Colour of the commercial products play a vital role to attract the consumers and also represent the quality of the products. Rhodotorula minuta RAI3 , R. acheniorum RC2, R. minuta RY1 and Rhodotorula sp RA2 , isolated from dairy environment and further characterized were selected for pigment production. Out of the three Rhodotorula isolates, R. minuta RAI3 showed high yield of carotenoid pigment (4.412 µg/g of dry cell mass) in coconut water as natural medium compared to semi synthetic medium Malt Yeast Extract broth (MYEB) and solid state medium rice on 6th day of incubation at 30 0 C. R. minuta RAI3 recorded high yield of both extra and intracellular pigment (2.877 and 4.412 µg/g of dry cell mass). Extraction of Pigments from Rhodotorula Species of Dairy Environment K. Shivalkar Yadav* and R. Prabha Department of Dairy Microbiology, Dairy Science College, KVAFSU, Hebbal, Bengaluru -560024, India; shivalkaryadav@gmail.com

Keywords: Carotenoids, Extracellular, Extraction, Intracellular Pigment, Microbial Pigments