Jerusalem artichoke extract or powder was used for astaxanthin production using Phaffia rhodozyma without acidic or enzymatic inulin hydrolysis. The culture medium containing Jerusalem artichoke as carbon source was optimized, and feeding strategies, including constant, exponential, pH-stat, and substrate feedback fed-batch fermentations, were also compared for enhancing the cell biomass and astaxanthin synthesis by P. rhodozyma. Substrate-feedback fed-batch fermentation resulted in the highest dry cell weight of 83.60 g/L, with a carotenoid concentration and yield of 982.50 mg/L and 13.30 mg/g, respectively, under optimized medium components using Jerusalem artichoke extract as carbon source in a 3-L stirred-tank bioreactor. Moreover, 482.50 mg/L of carotenoids and 253.10 mg/L of astaxanthin were obtained by continuous feeding of Jerusalem artichoke powder, which was used as carbon source. Astaxanthin essence with high DPPH-scavenging activity was obtained from the extracted astaxanthin, and the DPPH free radical scavenging rate of 40 ppm astaxanthin essence reached 76.29%. When stored at 4 degrees C, astaxanthin essence showed the highest stability, with a minimum k value of 0.0099 week(-1) and maximum half-life (t(1/2)) value of 70 weeks.