Effect of carrot juice on Haematococcus pluvialis growth and astaxanthin production

In this work, we report the use of carrot juice (CJ) as a source of carotenoids as precursors of astaxanthin in a microalga Haematococcus pluvialis culture medium. Three experiments were carried out, two with the culture media supplemented with CJ (1.62 g.mL-1) at the beginning of the vegetative phase, and at the peak of the cell growth; and a control (without CJ). The samples supplemented with CJ resulted in a biomass production (531.9 mg and 625.3 mg) higher than the control (445.9 mg). Similar results were observed in astaxanthin production, resulting in a considerably higher amount (8.54 and 7.71 ppm) in the experiments supplemented with CJ compared to the control (4.79 ppm). These results showed the potential of CJ use as an additive to significatively enhance both the biomass of H. pluvialis and astaxanthin content, especially when CJ is added at the beginning of the microalga culture.