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Screening of Monacolin K-Producing Monascus and Effects of Chinese Medicinal Herbal Materials on Monacolin K Production in Solid-State Fermentation

CHE Xin, MAO Jian, LIU Shuangping, ZHOU Zhilei, XUE Jingbo   

  1. 1. School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China;
    2. National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China;
    3. National Engineering Research Center of Chinese Rice Wine, Shaoxing 312000, China
  • Online:2016-07-15 Published:2016-07-26
  • Contact: MAO Jian

Abstract:

One strain with the most powerful capability of producing Monacolin K named M2-1 was screened from red
mold rice (RMR) using Monacolin K-containing plates and validated by solid-state fermentation. The yield of Monacolin K
reached 1.472 mg/g (dry basis) after 12 d fermentation. The strain was identified as Monascus ruber by morphological and
rDNA-ITS sequence analysis. The effects of powders and water extracts of 15 edible and medicinal herbs on Monacolin K
production and color value of M2-1 in solid-state fermentation were studied. Results indicated that Pericarpium Citri
Reticulatae, Fructus Crataegi, Folium Mori and Radix Angelicae Dahuricae powder as well as Fructus Crataegi, Flos
Caryophylli and Fructus Piperis extracts significantly improved the quality of RMR (P < 0.05). By adding Pericarpium Citri
Reticulatae powder and Fructus Crataegi extract to the fermentation medium, the maximum Monacolin K production of
2.118 mg/g and the highest color value of RMR of 320.12 U/g were obtained which were increased by 43.89% and 71.79%
compared those obtained with the ordinary strain, respectively. This study discovered a variety of Chinese medicinal herbs
that could promote the production of Monacolin K and Monascus pigment by Monascus ruber, which will provide a novel
strategy for improving the efficacy of traditional RMR as an edible and medicinal resource.

Key words: Monascus ruber, Chinese medicinal herb, solid-state fermentation, Monacolin K, color value

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