Feasibility of Carotenoid Production by Novel Yeast, Occultifur sp. M2004, for Nutraceutical Applications

One of the most prominent pigments found in nature, carotenoids are employed extensively in the cosmeceuticals, pharmaceuticals, food industries, and feeding sectors in addition to phytomedicine. Recently, microbial synthesis of products has gained popularity in various industrial sectors. The economic and environmental aspects of microbial carotenoid production have attracted a lot of attention. The aims of this research were to investigate the potential of novel yeast, Occultifur sp. M2004 for carotenoids production, identify the pigment structure and evaluate the anti-collagenase and anti-elastase properties of pigments produced by a newly isolated yeast. Antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed that this strain was sensitive to colistin and gentamicin but resistant to co-trimoxazole, vancomycin, gentamicin, amoxiclav, doxycycline, ampicillin, and cefalexin. The optimal conditions for yeast growth and red pigmentation were achieved by cultivating in yeast extract-glucose (YG) medium at pH 6, 25 °C with agitation at 150 rpm for 7 d. Beta-carotene was identified as the produced pigment using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) technique and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. The half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) values for anti-collagenase and anti-elastase activities were 2.61 μg/mL and 100.16 μg/mL, respectively. This study highlights the potential of Occultifur sp. M2004 as a valuable and versatile resource for producing carotenoids, which could have potential applications in nutraceuticals.