Economic and technical insights into carotenoids and lipids large-scale production in Rhodotorula glutinis: A study based on pulse-feeding culture, cell disruption strategies and cytotoxicity Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • The oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis is a promising microorganism for simultaneous production of carotenoids and lipids which are traditionally derived from plants and chemical synthesis; however, their production faces challenges such as stability and health issues, supply consistency, and large-scale production studies. This study focused on the use of Rhodotorula glutinis with a pulse-feeding culture strategy in a stirred tank reactor to intensify the biomass concentration (52.84 ± 0.5 g/L). Effective cell disruption for products extraction was achieved using acid treatment and cold solvent extraction, yielding 3.21 ± 0.5 mg/g dry yeast carotenoids and 0.175 ± 0.01 g/g dry yeast lipids. A safety test on human fibroblasts showed no cytotoxic effects in the obtained extract. Using experimental results as input parameters, three simulation scenarios were constructed in SuperPro Designer, with a product composed of lipids (97.41 % w/w) and carotenoids (2.59 % w/w): Scenario 1 (500 kg/year), Scenario 2 (1000 kg/year), and Scenario 3 (2000 kg/year). Adequate selection of equipment size can reduce both operational and capital expenses. Revenues were mainly linked to lipid production due to higher mass yields. Future work should focus on process scalability, feeding regime optimization, medium formulation, extract composition and functionality, and environmental impact assessment. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd.

publication date

  • February 1, 2026