Starch production with Cryptococcus humicolus HTM1 strain isolated from tea

Starch is the main product of photosynthesis and its the most dominant reserve polysaccaride that stored in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic tissues. Starch is a staple food in human and animal diets, but also a raw material widely used for industrial purposes, such as food, paper and textile. Due to global warming, it is thought that the world will gradually become deserted and agricultural areas will decrease. therefore, alternative food sources are sought. In this study, regardless of the climatic conditions, the capacity of producing starch by a new yeast culture isolated from tea was determined. Cryptococcus humicolus HTM1 strain was used for starch production. It was determined that HTM1 strain was able to produce 0.23 ± 0.03 mg/mL starch with glucose, 0.30 ± 0.06 mg/mL with fructose and 0.37 ± 0.06 mg/mL with sucrose. It was determined that HTM1 strain produced the highest amount of starch in glucose and fructose at pH 8, and in sucrose at pH 7. HTM1 strain was produced strach from honey and waste fruit juices, it was produced 1.2 ± 0.1 mg/mL from honey, 1.1 ± 0.3 mg/mL from pomegranate, 0.8 ± 0.2 mg/mL from apple, 0.9 ± 0.1 mg/mL from tangerine and 0.8 ± 0.2 mg/mL from the kiwi. As a result, it was determined that C. humicolus HTM1 yeast strain isolated from tea can produce starch and has an important potential to produce starch in laboratory environment.