Study on the extraction of carotenoids in Rhodoplanes elegans

Four different cell broken methods were compared to find out the best extraction method of carotenoid pigment from Rhodoplanes elegans. The results showed that the output of carotenoid pigment was in accordance with the growth curve of the strain; the content of carotenoid pigment tended to be constant after culturing the activated strain for 45h; the best extraction method was that the cells obtained as above were broken by ultrasonic at 640W for 10 min. The extracting ratio of carotenoid pigment is 19.5 mg per gram dry cells; the acid-heated method would destroy the pigment. This study may provide some theoretic basis to further explore the natural pigment resource.