Patent ID: 8030523

Claim:
A process for obtaining astaxanthin from eggs and/or gonads of snails comprising the steps of: (a) grinding the eggs and/or gonads; (b) mixing the ground eggs and/or gonads sample with a first solvent while conducting sonication; (c) removing the solid components in the mixture to obtain a glycol-lipo-carotenoprotein solution; (d) contacting the glycol-lipo-carotenoprotein solution with a proteinase in the dark under N 2 atmosphere so that the proteins are digested; (e) removing the digested proteins to obtain a glycol-lipo-carotenoid solution; (f) removing lipids and saccharide compounds from the glycol-lipo-carotenoid solution to obtain a carotenoid solution; (g) extracting the carotenoid solution with a second solvent to obtain an astaxanthin-containing solution; and (h) purifying astaxanthin from the astaxanthin-containing solution.