Chitin, a natural polysaccharide, is the second most abundant biopolymer in the world after cellulose. It consists of N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) monomers and finds widespread applications in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, we selected pigmented yeast strains to synthesize carotenoids from NAG and optimized the conditions for carotenoids production. The results demonstrated that the selected strain Sporidiobolus pararoseus Q could accumulate β-carotene and carotenoids, reaching 518.84 µg/g dry biomass and 595.48 µg/g dry biomass, respectively, after 96 hours of fermentation with 30 g/L NAG at pH 5. The two-step fermentation with 80 g/L of glucose then 50 g/L of NAG increased 41% and 35% the carotenoids and β-carotene, achieved 786.69 µg/g and 632.19 µg/g, respectively. The ability to use NAG as the source for carotenoids production not only adds value for shrimp by-product but also contributes to environmental pollution control.
