METHOD FOR OBTAINING PURIFIED PRODUCT OF CAROTENOIDS

摘要

The present invention addresses the problem of providing an industrially useful method for contributing to the effective utilization of algal culture residual liquid and producing carotenoids free of hazardous substances. The above problem is solved by a method for obtaining a purified product of carotenoids from a residue from which phycocyanin has been extracted after having produced phycocyanin by culturing algae, the method for obtaining a purified product of carotenoids characterized by having a saponification step for using an alkaline substance to decompose the chlorophyll contained in a carotenoid extract (A) obtained after a step for extracting carotenoids from the residue and filtering, and a carotenoid precipitation step conducted thereafter, the conditions of the saponification step being as follows: (1) 1.9-7.6 molar equivalents of an alkaline substance are used in relation to the solid mass (1 kg) of the carotenoid extract (A); (2) the temperature at which saponification is conducted is 40-80°C.