Sustainable β-carotene production by engineered S. cerevisiae using sucrose and agricultural by-products
Issued Date
2025-12-01
Resource Type
eISSN
21974365
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-105016086006
Journal Title
Bioresources and Bioprocessing
Volume
12
Issue
1
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Bioresources and Bioprocessing Vol.12 No.1 (2025)
Suggested Citation
Bubphasawan S., Sansatchanon K., Promdonkoy P., Watcharawipas A., Tanapongpipat S., Khamwachirapithak P., Runguphan W., Kocharin K. Sustainable β-carotene production by engineered S. cerevisiae using sucrose and agricultural by-products. Bioresources and Bioprocessing Vol.12 No.1 (2025). doi:10.1186/s40643-025-00936-y Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/112221
Title
Sustainable β-carotene production by engineered S. cerevisiae using sucrose and agricultural by-products
Corresponding Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
β-carotene, a carotenoid precursor to vitamin A, is widely employed in the food, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical sectors. In this study, we present an economically sustainable strategy for β-carotene biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by engineering the yeast to utilize sucrose and agricultural by-products as alternative carbon and nitrogen sources. Specifically, the deletion of the GAL80 gene facilitated effective β-carotene synthesis directly from sucrose, circumventing the costly requirement for galactose induction. Using this engineered yeast strain, we achieved β-carotene titers of up to 23.30 ± 4.22 mg/L and content levels of 2.29 ± 0.16 mg/g dry cell weight (DCW). To further improve the economic viability and environmental sustainability, we evaluated the use of agricultural by-products—molasses as a carbon source and fish meal as a nitrogen source—in a fed-batch fermentation process, highlighting the potential of these substrates to replace refined feedstocks while achieving competitive β-carotene production levels. This approach yielded substantial β-carotene titers of 17.02 ± 0.40 mg/L and content levels of 2.90 ± 0.21 mg/g DCW. It also significantly reduced medium costs by up to 73% compared to conventional yeast extract and peptone-based media, demonstrating the practical potential of these low-cost, sustainable substrates for industrial applications. This study uniquely highlights the successful application of unrefined agricultural by-products, addressing key challenges in cost and sustainability. These findings represent an important advancement toward developing economically competitive and environmentally responsible microbial platforms for the production of β-carotene and other high-value biochemicals.