“…Monascus , a small filamentous saprophytic fungus, plays an important role in household food consumption and industrial food manufacture [ [11] , [12] , [13] ], including the production of rice fermented products [ 14 ], natural colorants [ 15 , 16 ], and medicines [ 17 ]. Zhao et al found that fermented Panax ginseng by Monascus ruber regulated lipid metabolism and intestinal flora structure in high fat diet rats, which reduced obesity characteristics and lowered serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and IgA levels [ 18 ].…”