β-carotene production by native Dunaliellasalina strain

There is an increasing demand for using natural carotenoids in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.Carotenoids are one of the food supplements that is synthesized naturally in photosynthetic organism.For an attitude towards carotenoids production from biosynthetic passway, bioresources are more considered. Content of the bioavailable 9-sis steroisomer in Dunaliella, is higher than other natural carotenoids resources.This microalgae is the main natural resource for β-carotene production. Dunaliellasalina have been exploited commercially for β-carotene rich Dunaliella powder and natural βcarotene for three decades. This algae is able to live in various conditions, where it can live in saltish range between 0.4 to 5 M of NaCl and pH range between 5.5 to 11. Carotenoids are formed in algae chloroplast under stress condition.In this study the production of carotenoids by Dunaliellasalina isolated from Hoze-soltan salt lake, in different NaCl and pH condition in Johnson medium are investigated .The survey conducted within 40 days growth period.The results indicate that pigmentation correlates well with growth rate and the optimum amount for growth andcarotenoids production was determined in culture with 10% NaCl and pH equal to 8.5. The most amount for carotenoids was equal to 14.95 mg per lit in day 42.