Natural pigment from Monascus: The production and therapeutic significance

Abstract

Objective:The present review highlights the advantages of using natural colorant over the synthetic one. We have discussed the fermentation parameters that can enhance the productivity of Monascus pigment on agricultural wastes.Background: Food industry is looking for natural colours because these can enhance the esthetic value, attractiveness, and acceptability of food while remaining nontoxic. Many synthetic food colours (Azorubine Carmoisine, quinoline) have been prohibited due to their toxicity and carcinogenicity. Increasing consumer awareness towards the food safety has forced the manufacturing industries to look for suitable alternatives. In addition to safety, natural colorants have been found to have nutritional and therapeutic significance. Among the natural colorants, microbial pigments can be considered as a viable option because of scalability, easier production, no seasonal dependence, cheaper raw materials and easier extraction. Fungi such as Monascus have a long history of safety and therefore can be used for production of biopigments. Method:The present review summarizes the predicted biosynthetic pathways and pigment gene clusters in Monascus purpureus. Results:The challenges faced during the pilot-scale production of Monascus biopigment and taming it by us of low-cost agro-industrial substrates for solid state fermentation has been suggested. Conclusion:Keeping in mind, therapeutic properties of Monascus pigments and their derivatives, they have huge potential for industrial and pharmaceutical application.

Linoleic acid functions as a quorum‐sensing molecule in Monascus purpureus–Saccharomyces cerevisiae co‐culture

“…Monascus pigments and Monacolin K, the best‐known metabolites produced by Monascus , are widely used in food and medicines (Chaudhary et al, 2021), and numerous studies have focused on increasing the production of these valuable metabolites (He et al, 2021). The addition of various substances, such as tyrosol, farnesol, linoleic acid, rutin, La 3+ , γ ‐butyrolactone, genistein, and ascorbic acid, has been reported to enhance the production of Monascus pigments and Monacolin K (Erkaya et al, 2020; J. Huang et al, 2018; Z. Huang et al, 2019; H. Liu et al, 2021; Ouyang et al, 2021; Shi et al, 2022; Wei et al, 2022).…”

“…Among the nine genes evaluated, mokC, mokG, and mokH showed the highest increases and were 3.32-, 3.91-, and 3.68-fold higher than the corresponding levels in the control, respectively. Monascus pigments and Monacolin K, the best-known metabolites produced by Monascus, are widely used in food and medicines (Chaudhary et al, 2021), and numerous studies have focused on increasing the production of these valuable metabolites (He et al, 2021). The addition of various substances, such as tyrosol, farnesol, linoleic acid, rutin, La 3+ , γ-butyrolactone, genistein, and ascorbic acid, has been reported to enhance the production of Monascus pigments and Monacolin K (Erkaya et al, 2020;Z.…”

The potential, strategies, and challenges of Monascus pigment for food application

“…The secondary metabolites, like occur with natural pigments, produced by M. purpureus and M. ruber are extremely important and have an economic impact (Agboyibor et al, 2018;Chaudhary et al, 2022). Among the pigments produced by Monascus sp.…”

“…-which is used in products and processes of several countries specially in Asia-has gained huge prominence for food application (the advantages are presented in item 2), demonstrating the potential for the production of yellow, orange, and red pigments by use of different types of the fermentation (submerged or in solid-state fermentation), substrates (synthetic, natural and also by-products), and process parameters (temperature, pH, agitation, aeration, etc.,). Furthermore, Monascus pigment has been associated with antioxidant, antiosteoporosis, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial, properties, as well as anti-diabetic, antidepressant, anticancer, antiobesity, neurocytoprotective, antihypertensive, and hepatoprotective effects (Feng et al, 2016;Agboyibor et al, 2018;Chaudhary et al, 2022). In this way, this mini-review presents the trend of production and application Monascus pigment in foods, as well as its strategies and challenges.…”

Production of Natural Pigments Using Microorganisms

“…1,16 As an alternative, the production of natural pigments by microorganisms is not restricted by the above reasons and is easy to scale up. 19,20 Microorganisms can not only synthesize a variety of microbial pigments 15,21,22 but can also be engineered to produce plant and animal pigments. 23−25 For example, model species, such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have been developed to produce various pigments because of their clear genetic background and mature genetic manipulation tools.…”