Violaxanthin-overproducing strain of Chlorella vulgaris and the method for producing violaxanthin using the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel violaxanthin-overproducing strain of Chlorella vulgaris and a method of producing violaxanthin therefrom. The inventors have developed a strain that produces violaxanthin at a significantly higher level than a wild-type strain by inducing a random chemical mutation in a Chlorella vulgaris strain to, and then as a result of analysis, confirmed that the strain produces violaxanthin up to 0.41% based on dry weight, which reaches the highest level that is possible to be produced in microalgae. Furthermore, as a method of effectively extracting a carotenoid pigment containing violaxanthin from the strain was established, since the strain and the developed pigment extraction method according to the present invention allow effective production and separation of violaxanthin, the strain is expected to increase commercial applications such as cosmetics, health functional foods and feed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.