Vol. 8, Issue 4, Part D (2022)

Abstract
Carotenoid produced by microorganism utilizing low-cost substrates offers a promising eco-friendly and cost-effective approach used alternative for synthetic colourants. Vegetable and fruit processing wastes are the rich sources of carbohydrates, starch, cellulose, soluble sugars, minerals and organic acids. In the current study with fruit waste extract medium, carotenoid production was optimized using software tools, Central Composite design. The effect of pH, inoculum volume (% v v^-1) and incubation time (h) on carotenoid production by marine isolate Rhodotorula mucilaginosa YM utilizing fruit peel waste extract as sole carbon source containing peels of oranges (11% w v^-1), core of pineapples (24% w v^-1), peels papaya (29% w v^-1) and flesh of watermelons (36% w v^-1) was analysed and optimized using Central Composite Design (CCD). The marine isolate R. mucilaginosa YM showed enhanced carotenoid production (51.32±0.6 mg L^-1) under optimum condition of pH 5.5 with 2% (v v^-1) inoculum after 48 h incubation time. HPLC and FT-IR spectrum confirmed that the carotenoid has an astaxanthin compounds and had sun protection properties. Thus, fruit waste medium with optimized process parameters reduces production time, recycles and reutilizes waste for carotenoid production that can be further scaled up.