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This research was supported by grants from the FAPESP (Sao Paulo Research Foundation Brazil) through the projects, 2021/06686-8, 2020/08655-0 and 2018/06908-8. CIEPQPF is supported by the FCT through the projects UIDB/EQU/00102/2020 and UIDP/EQU/00102/2020.

Analysis of institutional authors

Gonzalez-Miquel, MAuthor

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Microbial torularhodin - a comprehensive review

Publicated to:Critical Reviews In Biotechnology. 43 (4): 540-558 - 2023-01-01 43(4), DOI: 10.1080/07388551.2022.2041540

Authors: Mussagy, Cassamo U.; Gonzalez-Miquel, Maria; Santos-Ebinuma, Valeria C.; Pereira, Jorge F. B.;

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Abstract

The demand for food, feed, cosmeceutical, and nutraceutical supplements/additives from natural sources has been rapidly increasing, with expectations for a faster expansion than the growth of the global markets in the coming years. In this framework, a particular interest is given to carotenoids due to their outstanding antioxidant activities, particularly the xanthophylls class. Torularhodin is one of these carotenoids that stands out for its multifunctional role as: antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial, yet its commercial potential is still unexplored. Although most xanthophylls can be naturally found in: microbial, plant and animal sources, torularhodin is only produced by microbial species, especially red oleaginous yeast. The microbial production of xanthophylls has many advantages as compared to other natural sources, such as: the need for low production area, easier extraction, high yields (at optimum operating conditions), and low (or no) seasonal, climatic, and geographic variation dependency. Due to the importance of natural products and their relevance to the market, this review provides a comprehensive overview of the: properties, characteristics and potential health benefits of torularhodin. Moreover, the most promising developments in both upstream and downstream processing to obtain this colorant from microbial sources are considered. For this purpose, the main microorganisms used for torularhodin production are firstly reviewed, including biosynthesis pathway and torularhodin properties. Following, an overall analysis of the processing aspects related with its: extraction, separation and purification is provided. Lastly, current status and future trends of torularhodin-based processes and products such as therapeutic agents or biomaterials are discussed, indicating promising directions toward biorefinery and circular economy.

Keywords

AnimalsAntioxidantAntioxidantsBiorefineryCarotenoidCarotenoid-pigmentsCarotenoidsCellsColorantExtraction methodsIntracellular carotenoidsOxidative stressRecoveryRhodotorula-mucilaginosaSporobolomycesTorularhodinToruleneXanthophyllXanthophyllsYeastYeast sporidiobolus-pararoseus

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Critical Reviews In Biotechnology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 13/174, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 3.29, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 6.87 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-07, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 4
  • Scopus: 27
  • OpenCitations: 20

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-07:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 33.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 33 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.75.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Brazil; Portugal.