Abstract:
The use of microorganisms for the production of natural pigments is considered to be
one of the fastest growing pathways in biotechnology.The considerable interest in
biopigments, in particular carotenoids, is linked to their use as additives to coloring properties in the food industry and also thanks to their provitaminic (vitamin A), antioxidant and antiradical properties.The aim of our work is the isolation of pigmented strains from Algerian biotopes (molasses, margines, whey and olives) and to test their carotenoid pigment synthesis capacities. The creamy white, yellow, orange and pink colors served for the first selection of 120 pigmented strains of which 89 are bacteria and 21 are yeasts. The second selection resulted in 40 strains which were used to demonstrate the production of pigments in liquid media (TSB, YMB, OGB and SDB) the bacterial group consisting of 27 isolates and the yeast group represented by 13 isolates. Measurements of pH, amount of biomass and carotenoid pigment content revealed no significant variability between the last two parameters. The pigment production test revealed that the BMY108 strain is potentially producing carotenoids (1.79 ± 0.33 mg of equivalent β-carotène/g MS) and this on synthetic medium. These findings open the possibilities of alternatives such as the use of low-cost substrates as agro-industrial waste for the improvement of production.
