The use of Macronet resins to recover gamma-decalactone produced by Rhodotorula aurantiaca from the culture broth.

During the biotransformation of castor oil into gamma-decalactone, R. aurantiaca produced both the lactone form and its precursor (4-hydroxydecanoic acid). After six days of culture, a maximum yield of gamma-decalactone of 6.5 g/l was obtained. The parameters of gamma-decalactone adsorption on three Macronet resins (MN-202, MN-102 and MN-100) were investigated in water. Adsorption isotherms of gamma-decalactone for the three Macronet resins were linear. The trapping of gamma-decalactone produced by R. aurantiaca on these resins was then carried out. gamma-Decalactone was effectively retained by all the studied Macronet resins. The resin MN-202 trapped gamma-decalactone more efficiently than MN-102 and MN-100. The percentages of gamma-decalactone adsorbed on the resins MN-202, MN-102 and MN-100 were, respectively, 85, 75 and 81%, whereas around 70% of the adsorbed gamma-decalactone was then desorbed. We propose an industrial process that uses Macronet resins to extract gamma-decalactone from culture broth of R. aurantiaca.