Astaxanthin (AX) is a high valued ketocarotenoid having numerous applications in the food and pharmaceutical industry. The present study is a combined approach of using ultrasound extraction with three phase partitioning for an efficient recovery of Astaxanthin from Paracoccus NBRC 101723. The optimum conditions for the ultrasonic extraction of AX were: 100% amplitude for 20 s (wet biomass) and 60 s (dried biomass) using solid to solvent ratio (1:2) at a distance of 15 mm between the base of the extraction vessel and the tip of the probe. Pretreatment of the dried biomass (particle size 0.8 mu m) with 70% acetone (70 degrees C, 25 min) resulted in maximum ultrasonic extraction of 1035 mu g/g of dried biomass. The astaxanthin content (mu g/g) extracted using dried biomass, dried using different drying methods showed hot air oven drying at 35 degrees C (946 +/- 23) to be comparable to freeze drying (950 +/- 19) and vacuum oven drying (945 +/- 22). Astaxanthin from the disrupted cells recovered by three phase partitioning using (NH4)(2)SO4 and t-butanol (40 degrees C, 30 min) resulted in 37% more recovery than conventional method.