Extracellular production and characterization of red pigment from Penicillium purpurogenum BKS9

Fifteen fungal species were isolated from waste soil and used for the production of red pigment. Among the fifteen fungal isolates only Penicillium sp. BKS 9 displayed excellent production ability of red pigment in sabouraud’s dextrose agar medium as well as broth medium. After 28S rRNA sequencing the fungus Penicillium sp. BKS9 was identified as Penicillium purpurogenum and submitted to NCBI (Gene Bank) with Gene Bank accession number KT222270. Further, optimization of incubation period and pH was performed and it was concluded that an incubation for 18 days with pH 6.0 at 30°C are the most favorable conditions for biomass (0.877 g/50 ml) and red pigment (0.79 Abs/ml) production. The pigment used for the study was soluble in all the organic solvents taken. The effect of red pigment on germination of fifty numbers of viable and healthy seeds of Cicer arietinum was studied and confirmed that the pigment has no significant negative effect on the germination of the seeds