Screening and effect evaluation of chemical inducers for enhancing astaxanthin and lipid production in mixotrophic Chromochloris zofingiensis

A two-stage screening approach of chemical inducers was carried out to evaluate the positive effect on enhancing astaxanthin and lipid production in mixotrophic Chromochloris zofingiensis. The results demonstrated that oxidants were able to increase the astaxanthin content high up to 11.4 mg g−1 biomass, while pyruvic acid promoted the cell growth and increased the contents of astaxanthin and lipids up to 10.7 mg g−1 and 66.1% dry weight. The highest yield (87.0 mg L−1) and productivity (7.3 mg L−1 day−1) of astaxanthin were obtained in parallel with high lipid productivity (459.0 mg L−1 day−1). The correlations between the dosage effect of chemical inducers and metabolites variation were further examined by statistical analyses. Additionally, C. zofingiensis-derived lipids were estimated to be more viable and feasible as edible oils based on fatty acid characteristics assessment. The present work highlights the effective screening strategy of chemical inducers for enhancing astaxanthin and lipid production and the potential application in mixotrophic C. zofingiensis.