Effect of non-ionic surfactant and oxygen-vector on the production of β-carotene and biomass from Blakeslea trispora

Non-ionic surfactant and oxygen-vectors may influence the growth of Blakeslea trispora and its primary product beta-carotene. Compared with other non-ionic surfactants, Triton X-100 at 0.1% yielded the highest biomass production at 52.5 g/L and increased the production of beta-carotene from 793.5 mg/L in the control to 923.5 mg/L. The beta-carotene production and the yield of biomass were increased when oxygen-vectors were added to the medium. With 1% n-dodecane added on the 0 day, the biomass and beta-carotene production was 17.2% and 10.0% higher than that of the control. The highest beta-carotene and biomass production were obtained when 0.1% Triton X-100 and 1% n-dodecane were added together on the 0 day of fermentation.