The morphology and structure of red pigment producing fungus: monascus purpureus

Thered pigment producing, ascospore forming fungus Monascus purpureuswas obtained by monospore isolation and maintained on potato dextrose agar at 32°C for 7 days. M. purpureusproduces compact colonies of mycelia and accumulates large quantities of red pigment. Here we aimed to describe this newly isolated red pigment producing fungus using biochemical and microscopy technique. A newly isolated red pigment producing fungus from local red fermented rice was identified using Microbial Identification System based on fatty acids profiles.The growth, morphology, and structure of M. purpureuswere characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SME). We found that M. purpureusreproduces sexually (by the formation of cleistothecium with ascospores) and asexual (by the formation of conidia). In Monascusspecies, the formation of either asexual or sexual spores appears to be an effective growth strategy. On the basis of biochemical and all morphological investigations it could be concluded that the new strain isolated from red fermented rice belongs to species M. purpureus, labeled as M. purpureus FTCC 5391

Kinetics of red pigment fermentation in 2-litre stirred tank fermenter using different types and concentrations of carbon sources

Kinetics of red pigment fermentation by Monascus purpureus FTC 5391 using various sources of carbon (glucose, fructose, maltose and sucrose) were analysed using a model based on Logistic and Leudeking-Piret equations. Using the optimal concentration of fructose, batch fermentation without pH control was capable to produce slightly higher red pigment (20.70 UA500) as compared to fermentation using glucose (20.63 UA500). In terms of overall productivity, fermentation using fructose (0.153 UA500/h) was comparable to glucose (0.122 UA500/h). The production of red-pigment by M. purpureus FTC 5391 appeared to be a non-growth associated process; whereby rapid red-pigment production occurred during non-growth phase after the depletion of carbon in the medium and the on-set of ethanol accumulation. It seemed that the red-pigment was formed from the metabolism of ethanol accumulated in the culture

Improvement of red-pigment-producing fungal strain (Monascus purpureus FTC 5391) using monospore isolation technique

Monospore isolation technique was performed to obtain the improved strain that has high and consistent ability to produce red pigment. The ability of Monascus purpureus FTC 5391 wild strain in producing red pigment was successfully improved using monospore isolation technique. By using this approach of improvement, three different monospore isolates of M. purpureus FTC 5391 (MP 3, MP 4 and MP 5) were obtained as the best red pigment producers when glucose, potato starch and rice starch were used as carbon source, respectively

Monascus spp.: a source of natural microbial color through fungal biofermentation

The search for naturally produced substitutes for chemical food colorants has led to a resurgence of interest in pigments synthesized by fungi such as Monascus spp. This fungus has been used in Asia for many centuries as a natural color and flavor ingredient in food and beverages. The red pigments are of particular interest, because red is the most popular food color and true natural pigments suitable for applications in food industries are difficult to obtain. As a result of recent efforts to replace synthetic food dyes with natural colorants, pigments produced by Monascus spp. have attracted worldwide attention. Monascus color, categorized as a natural color, has also been widely used as a food supplement and in traditional medicine. The major objective of this review deals with production of natural microbial color by Monascus spp. and addresses the parameters involved in fungal biofermentation. The fungal strains of Monascus spp. can be either fermented in solid state fermentation (SSF) or in submerged fermentation (SmF). SSF and SmF are two commonly used techniques during various fermentation processes. One important aspect in the development of a biofermentation process is the ability and suitability of the Monascus strain to be employed with a suitable medium

Aeration and agitation strategies for the improvement of red pigment production by Monascus purpureus FTC 5391

The influence of agitation speed and aeration rate on mycelial morphology and red pigment production of Monascus purpureus FTC 5391 was investigated in 2-litre stirred tank bioreactor. At agitation speed of 400 rpm or less, serious mycelia aggregation and fluffy pellets were present with pigment yields of approximately below 0.27 UA500/g.litre. At this speed, M. purpureus FTC 5391 formed long hairy mycelia, resulting in the formation of viscous cultures. As the agitation speed increased from 200 to 1,000 rpm, the KLa value also increased gradually. The specific oxygen uptake rates (QO2) at 800 and 1,000 rpm were lower than the rate at 600 rpm. Mycelia had short branches and appeared to be damaged by mechanical shear forces due to high agitation speed. The dissolved oxygen tension (DOT) levels were varied within the ranges of 30 –100% saturation in fermentation with agitation speed fixed at 600 rpm. The maximum cell concentration of M. purpureus FTC 5391 was about 13.2 g/litre and yield of red pigment production of about 0.411 UA500/g.litre was achieved with DOT of 100% saturation. The highly branched cell morphology and vacuolated cell morphology were observed in a high DOT level (100% saturation). Fermentation was successfully developed in 2-litre stirred tank bioreactor based on a constant agitation speed of 600 rpm and DOT levels higher than 90% saturation, which was the best condition for pigment production and cell morphology

Fermentation conditions affecting growth and red pigment production of Monascus purpureus FTC 5391

Studies on optimization of fermentation conditions for cell growth and red pigment production by Monascus purpureus FTC 5391 were carried out in shake flask cultures at 37 °C. The suitable initial culture pH for red pigment production was varied from pH 5.5 to 9, but through this study the optimum initial culture pH was stated at 6.5. The optimal inoculum size for red pigment production was 10% and a decrease in inoculum size resulted in a decrease in mycelial growth and red pigment production. Study on the effect of different nitrogen sources such as (NH4)2HPO4, (NH4)H2PO4, NaNO3, NH4NO3, (NH4)2SO4, (NH4)2S2O8, NH4Cl, peptone, yeast extract, monosodium glutamate (MSG), urea and tryptone, showed cell growth and red pigment production preferred organic nitrogen sources as compared to inorganic nitrogen sources. MSG as nitrogen source gave superior growth and red pigment production compared to other organic nitrogen sources. MSG at 1.2% (12 g/litre) was optimal for cell growth and red pigment production. Using 5% (50 g/litre) glucose and 1.2% (12 g/litre) MSG as the carbon and nitrogen source respectively, we found that K2HPO4 (2.5 g/litre), KH2PO4 (2.5 g/litre), MgSO4.7H2O (1.0 g/litre), KCl, (0.5 g/litre), ZnSO4.7H2O (0.01 g/litre), FeSO4.7H2O (0.01 g/litre) dan MnSO4.H2O (0.03g/litre) gave maximal cell growth and red pigment production

Kinetics and modeling of red pigment fermentation by Monascus purpureus FTC 5391 in 2-litre stirred tank fermenter using glucose as a carbon source

The experimental data from batch fermentation were analysed to form a kinetic model of the process. The unstructured model, based on logistic and Leudeking- Piret equations, was suitable to describe growth, substrate consumption and red pigment production by Monascus purpureus FTC 5391. The maximum specific growth rate (μmax) of 0.055/h and 0.065/h were obtained from simulated modelling of M. purpureus FTC 5391 during growth in shake flask and 2-litre stirred tank fermenter, respectively. The maximum red pigment, Pmax and cell concentrations, Xmax obtained in batch fermentation using 2-litre stirred tank fermenter (20.63 UA500 and 13.2 g/litre) and using shake flask (9.26 UA500 and 11.425 g/litre) with overall productivity (P) was 0.122 UA500/h and 0.055 UA500/h, respectively. The production of red-pigment by M. purpureus FTC 5391 appeared to be a non-growth associated process; whereby rapid red-pigment production occurred during non-growth phase after the depletion of glucose in the medium

Consumer Acceptance of Fermented Drinks in Malaysia

Fermented beverages have become a powerful player in the global beverage sector because of the increased demand for health products and their nutritional benefits to societies. This study aimed to identify consumer acceptance and willingness to pay for fermented drinks developed by MARDI. It also will evaluate the market potential of products among industry players. In this study, the data was collected using structured questionnaire and face-to-face interviews focused on the population in Peninsular Malaysia. The population's selection by stratified random sampling technique and the major survey locations included mall and hypermarket. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to discover the underlying structure of observed variables. A total of 400 respondents had participated in the study. A field survey conducted showed that 54% of respondents knew about functional foods and 55% of these are aware of functional foods based on fruits were in the market. The survey found that 30% of respondents had taken fermented drinks before, while the rest had never known this drink. Age and income have a significant influence on consumers' willingness to pay fermented drinks at a reasonable price if this product is available in the Malaysian market. Government support is needed to encourage the cultivation of indigenous fruit in Malaysia. It can be done through the provision of seed subsidies and financial resources to farmers in expanding and increasing the supply of these raw materials for the production of value-added products

Nutrients interaction investigation to improve Monascus purpureus FTC5391 growth rate using response surface methodology and artificial neural network

Aims: Two vital factors, certain environmental conditions and nutrients as a source of energy are entailed for successful growth and reproduction of microorganisms. Manipulation of nutritional requirement is the simplest and most effectual strategy to stimulate and enhance the activity of microorganisms. Methodology and Results: In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to optimize the carbon and nitrogen sources in order to improve growth rate of Monascus purpureus FTC5391, a new local isolate. The best models for optimization of growth rate were a multilayer full feed-forward incremental back propagation network, and a modified response surface model using backward elimination. The optimum condition for cell mass production was: sucrose 2.5%, yeast extract 0.045%, casamino acid 0.275%, sodium nitrate 0.48%, potato starch 0.045%, dextrose 1%, potassium nitrate 0.57%. The experimental cell mass production using this optimal condition was 21 mg/plate/12days, which was 2.2-fold higher than the standard condition (sucrose 5%, yeast extract 0.15%, casamino acid 0.25%, sodium nitrate 0.3%, potato starch 0.2%, dextrose 1%, potassium nitrate 0.3%). Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The results of RSM and ANN showed that all carbon and nitrogen sources tested had significant effect on growth rate (P-value < 0.05). In addition the use of RSM and ANN alongside each other provided a proper growth prediction model