Purification by silica gel chromatography using dialysis tubing and characterization of sophorolipids produced from Candida bombicola grown on glucose and arachidonic acid.

The yeast Candida bombicola (ATCC 22214) grown on primary carbon source glucose (100 g l(-1)) and secondary carbon, arachidonic acid (2 g l(-1)) produced mixture of sophorolipids up to 1.44 g l(-1). The crude product was a heterogeneous mixture of sophorolipids, which are glycolipids of sophorose linked to the fatty acid through glycosidic bond between omega and omega-1 carbon of arachidonic acid. The derived sophorolipids were isolated by silica gel chromatography using dialysis tubing. The purified sophorolipids were characterized by ESI-MS and FT-IR. Acid hydrolysis of the resolved sophorolipids were characterized by ESI-MS for the presence of 20-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z-eicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) and 19-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z-eicosatetraenoic acid (19-HETE), compounds of pronounced pharmaceutical importance.