Technology Transfer Department

Application sectors

Problem to solve

The extraction and separation techniques of natural carotenoids from different matrices generally involve the use of potentially harmful and highly flammable organic solvents with the production of waste that is difficult to manage. The proposed technology allows obtaining an extract free of solvent residues, avoids the use of chromatographic separation techniques, does not damage thermolabile molecules, is easily transferable on a large scale and minimizes the production of waste, resulting in an eco-friendly process. To obtain natural carotenoids the patent provides for the use of red yeasts as a biological resource, which unlike plants do not have limits due to seasonality. Furthermore, from a circular bioeconomy perspective, red yeasts can be grown on culture media derived from agro-food waste.

Description

For the production of Torularodin, generally, red yeasts are grown inside bioreactors on synthetic liquid substrates or using agro-industrial waste and subsequently the yeast cells are lysed and subjected to the extraction method with CO2 in supercritical conditions, the subject of the patent. The extraction process of Torularodin from biomass is characterized by two phases. In the first phase, the dry biomass of lysed cells of microorganisms is subjected to the extractive action of CO2 as the only solvent, obtaining an extract rich in apolar carotenoids without traces of residual solvents. In the second phase, the residual biomass, obtained from the first extraction phase, is subjected to the extraction action of CO2 together with a polar co-solvent, allowing to obtain an extract in which Torularodin represents approximately 95% of the total carotenoids.

Research group involved