earticle

영어

Astaxanthin (3,3'-dihydroxy-β,β-carotene-4-4'-dione), a natural pigment of pink to red color, is widely distributed in nature particularly in the skin layer of salmonoids and the crust of shrimp, lobster, etc. Recently, it was produced from the yeast culture of Phaffia rhodozyma. Because of its high thermal stability and antioxidant functionality, its applications can be extended into food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical ingredient beyond the traditional feed additive.
Because of its very high lipophilicity, astaxanthin has been extracted traditionally by strong organic solvents such as chloroform, petroleum ether, acetone, etc. In this study, we developed a surfactant-based solubilization system for astaxanthin, and used it to extract astaxanthin from disrupted yeast cells. Among Tween 20, Triton X-100 and SDS, Tween 20 was identified as the most suitable surfactant in terms of extraction capacity and safety. The ethylene oxide
group of Tween 20 was identified as the most significant factor to increase the HLB value that determined the extraction capacity. The effects of micelle formation condition, such as the molar ratio of astaxanthin and Tween 20, pH, and ionic strength were also investigated. pH and ionic strength showed no significant effects. The optimal molar ratio between astaxanthin and Tween 20 was 1：12. Antioxidant activity of astaxanthin was higher than β-carotene and α-tocopherol. Astaxanthin in the crude extract from the yeast cell was more resistant to air and/or light
degradation than pure astaxanthin, probably because of the presence of other carotenoids and lipids.