In this study, atmospheric and room temperature plasma and ultraviolet mutagenesis was studied for astaxanthin overproducing mutant. Phaffia rhodozyma mutant Y1 was obtained from the selection plate with 120 mu mol/L diphenylamine as selection agent, and its carotenoid concentration and content were 54.38 mg/L and 5.38 mg/g, which were 19.02 % and 21.20 % higher than that of the original strain, respectively. Sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate was used for astaxanthin production by mutant Y1 at 22 degrees C and 220 rpm for 96 h, and the biomass and carotenoid concentration reached 12.65 g/L and 88.57 mg/L, respectively. Ultrasonication and cellulase were used to break cell wall and the parameters were optimized, achieving an astaxanthin extraction rate of 96.01 %. The present work provided a novel combined mutagenesis method for astaxanthin overproducing mutant and a green cell wall disruption process for astaxanthin extraction, which would play a solid foundation on the development of natural astaxanthin.