Author(s): Passarinho, Paula ; Oliveira, Bruno ; Dias, Carla ; Teles, Marta ; Reis, Alberto ; Silva, Teresa Lopes da
Date: 2018
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/3122
Origin: Repositório do LNEG
Subject(s): Biodiesel; Biorefinery; Yeasts; Rhodosporidium toruloides; Carotenoids
ABSTRACT: A new process for co-extraction and separation of fatty acids and carotenoids from Rhodosporidium toruloides NCYC 921 biomass in order to achieve full exploitation of the yeast lipidic fraction is described. A saponification of the wet yeast biomass was performed using a potassium hydroxide solution (1.1 M) in ethanol 96%, at 65 °C for 180 min. In the carotenoid extraction step, a biphasic system with an organic: aqueous phases ratio of 0.49 mL/mL and a water content of 18.9% (w/w) was used. In the presence of an acid catalyst, the fatty acid fraction was esterified into fatty acids ethyl esters. The yeast biomass downstream processing allowed reaching a fatty acid and total carotenoids recovery yields of 91.0% and 85.2%, respectively. The process reported here takes advantage of various components of the yeast biomass, therefore maximizing the value derived from the biomass feedstock, with a minimal environmental impact within the frame of circular bioeconomy.
