Purification of trans-astaxanthin from a high-yielding astaxanthin ester-producing strain of the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis

摘要

The purification method including extraction, saponification, and separation was established for preparing free trans-astaxanthin from a high-yielding astaxanthin ester-producing strain of the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis which contained 3.67/100 trans-astaxanthins and 1.35/100 cis-astaxanthins of the dry cells. Low temperature (5 deg C) was chosen to minimize the degradation of astaanthins during saponification, and 94.4/100 free trans-astaxanthin was obtained from trans-astaxanthin esters after 12 h of saponification.