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Separation, Purification and Identification of (3R,3’R)-trans-Astaxanthin from Phaffia rhodozyma

SUN Wei-hong, LIN Hong, ZHAI Yu-xiu, LENG Kai-liang, XING Li-hong   

  1. 1. College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China;
    2. Yellow Sea Fishery Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
  • Published:2014-07-03

Abstract:

The separation and purification of (3R,3’R)-trans-astaxanthin from Phaffia rhodozyma were studied, and the
3R,3’R isomers were characterized by HPLC-APCI-MS, 1H and 13C NMR and HPLC-UV. The results showed that the
isomerization of trans-astaxanthin was effectively inhibited by combined use of glass tissue grinder for extraction, lowpressure
silica gel column chromatography for separation and crystallization of supersaturated astaxanthin in acetone for
purification, and the purity of all-trans-astaxanthin crystalline powder was verified to be above 95% by using HPLC. Then,
HPLC-APCI-MS, 1H and 13C NMR and chiralpak IC column based on cellulose tris(3,5-dichlorophenyl carbamate) polymer
confirmed that the trans-astaxanthin was composed almost exclusively of 3R,3’R isomer.

Key words: Phaffia rhodozyma, (3R,3’R)-trans-astaxanthin, separation, purification, identification