Comparison of extraction phases for a two-phase culture of a recombinant E. coli producing retinoids.

To prevent degradation of intracellular retinoids through in situ extraction from the cells, a two-phase culture system was performed. Several organic solvents, including n-alkanes, mineral oils and cosmetic raw materials, were applied as the extraction phase. Of the n-alkanes, n-decane had the highest retinoid production as 134 mg/l after 72 h. For mineral oil, light and heavy mineral oil gave retinoid productions of 158 and 174 mg/l after 96 h, respectively. Of other materials, isopropyl myristate gave the highest retinoid production of 181 mg/l. These results indicate that many types of oils can be applied for retinoid production, and optimization of the in situ extraction process will lead to further improve of economical production for the industrial purpose.