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The research compared antidiabetic activity of snake fruit Kombucha, black tea Kombucha and metformin in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Snake fruit Kombucha, black tea Kombucha and metformin were orally administered to the diabetic rats daily during a 28-day experiment. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and lipid profiles (total triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol) of the blood plasma were investigated. Pancreas immunohistochemical study and β-cells quantification were also conducted. The products significantly (p < 0.05) reduced fasting plasma glucose levels (67-76%) and improved oxidative stress indices and lipid profiles. From immunohistochemical staining of pancreatic tissues, pancreatic β-cells were also improved in the diabetic rats by the products. The snake fruit Kombucha compared with the metformin but better than the black tea Kombucha as a diabetes therapy agent.

The growth and pigment production of Monascus purpureus during 14 days solid state fermentation on different cereal substrates i.e. rice, corn, whole sorghum grain (WSG), dehulled sorghum grain (DSG) and sorghum bran (SB); and pigment composition of the fermented-products have been evaluated. Fungal biomass was used as a basis of its growth. Pigment content was measured by using spectrophotometer and thin-layer chromatography, and its composition was analyzed by using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. M. purpureus grew faster on rice substrate than did on other substrates. Production of pigments was observed at the end of logarithmic phase on all substrates tested. Similar pigment compounds were found on all substrates and the highest production of pigments was on rice, followed by DSG 4WSG4Corn 4SB. Twelve pigments, six of which were well-known, were detected on the Monascus-fermented products at different levels. Among those, Monapilol B, found in Monascus-fermented dioscorea, was found. On all cases, the red pigment Rubropunctamine was the major one (57-87%), except on SB substrate which produced Yellow II as the major one. Interestingly, fermented-DSG contained a large amount of Rubropunctatin compared to other fermented products. Among the non-rice substrates, DSG is the most potential substrate, on which the fungus exhibited the highest growth and pigment production. These data suggest that the fermented products are good candidates for development of natural food colorant, food supplement, functional food and or medicine with antiinflammation, anticancer and antimicrobial activities.

This research was aimed to separate and analyse Monascus yellow pigment (MYP) with chromatography. MYP was in a mixture with red and orange pigments. MYP separation was performed in a silica gel column with eluent of ethyl acetate: ethanol: water = 90: 25: 4. The separated MYP were then subjected to analysis by using spectrophotometer, TLC, LC-PDA and LC-MS/MS. The results revealed that the separated MYP has a maximum absorption at 386 nm. Out of five MYP compounds detected by using LC-MS/MS, two of them were well known yellow pigment compounds, monascin and ankaflavin. Monascin and yellow II were the major pigment compounds in MYP.