Production of antioxidant vitamins, β-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E, by two-step culture of Euglena gracilis Z

✍ Scribed by Haruko Takeyama; Akihisa Kanamaru; Yuko Yoshino; Hiroyuki Kakuta; Yoshiya Kawamura; Tadashi Matsunaga

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 89 KB
• Volume: 53
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-3592
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(19970120)53:2<185::aid-bit8>3.0.co;2-k

✦ Synopsis

Euglena gracilis Z is one of the few microorganisms which simultaneously produces antioxidant vitamins such as ␤-carotene and vitamins C and E. Photoheterotrophically cultured E. gracilis Z produced larger levels of biomass but with a lower content of antioxidant vitamins than photoautotrophically grown cultures. For efficient production of these vitamins, a two-step culture was performed. Cells were grown photoheterotrophically and then transferred to photoautotrophic conditions. When E. gracilis Z cells were grown in fed-batch culture under photoheterotrophic conditions, their density reached 19 g/L after 145 h. Subsequent transfer of these cells to photoautotrophic conditions increased vitamin content, enhancing the total vitamin yields, which were 71.0 mg/L of ␤-carotene, 30.