Quantification of lycopenes in processed Polymorphospora lycopeni using Raman spectrometry

This study presented a Raman spectroscopy-based method for rapid quantification of intracellular lycopene in Polymorphospora lycopene A560, a novel actinomycetes strain naturally lacking crtY gene. By integrating mechanical homogenization with TiO₂-assisted sample preparation, we reduced spectral variability (CV < 8% vs 58%). A PLS regression model utilizing lycopene's characteristic Raman peaks (1006, 1156, 1523 cm^-1) achieved high predictive accuracy (R² = 0.93, RMSECV = 3.60 mg/g). The method enables 10-fold faster analysis than spectrophotometry (3 min/sample), successfully identifying high-yield mutants (42.05 mg/g _{dry biomass}) with 95% Bland-Altman agreement. The optimized sample preparation effectively addressed the spectral interference caused by the filamentous morphology, establishing a robust platform for high-throughput strain screening. This approach eliminates laborious extraction steps while maintaining detection reliability, offering significant advantages for carotenoid bioproduction optimization.