HE biochemical genetics of carotenoid pigments has been studied in the T tomato ( LEROSEN et al. 1941 ; MACKINNEY and JENKINS 1949 ; PORTER and LINCOLN 1950), corn (MANGELSDORF and FRAPS 1931) and red yeast (BONNER et al. 1946). HAXO (1949) worked out the carotenoid components of the wild type Neurospora. The present paper deals with genetic and biochemical studies of a modifier system for pigm...

Four new pyridine derivatives, monasnicotinates A-D (1-4) were isolated from the red yeast rice of Monascus pilosus BCRC 38093. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of physicochemical evidence, in-depth NMR spectroscopic analysis, and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Their inhibitory effects on NO production was also evaluated.

practice (constituted by representatives of eight societies and by invited experts). Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil 2003;10:S1–S10. 2. Rosenson RS. Current overview of statin-induced myopathy. Am J Med 2004;116:408–416. 3. Eriksson M, Angelin B, Sjoberg S. Risk for fatal stain-induced rhabdomyolysis as a consequence of misinterpretation of ‘evidence-based medicine’. J Intern Med 2005;257:313–314...

Hypercholesterolemia is one of the most common chronic diseases in human. Along with chemical therapy traditional medication is used as hypocholesterolemic remedy, however, with unfavorable side effects. Recently, Monascus fermented product (MFP) has become a popular hypocholesterolemic natural supplement. In the present study, the hypocholesterolemic activity of Monascus purpureus FTC5391 ferm...

Natural pigments are an important alternative to potentially harmful synthetic dyes. We investigated the feasibility of corn cob powder as a substrate for production of pigments by Monascus purpureus KACC 42430 in solid-state fermentation. A pigment yield of 25.42 OD Units/gram of dry fermented substrate was achieved with corn cob powder and optimized process parameters, including 60% (w/w) ini...

Development of a novel method for the quantification of lovastatin is an interesting problem in the analytical field. In the literature, many reports use spectrophotometric method for the quantification of lovastatin. However, the analysis of fermentation broth containing lovastatin appears to be inaccurate using spectrophotometric method. Hence, the estimation of lovastatin produced by Monascu...

The effect of Monascus purpureus extract (MPE) on probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) was investigated to ascertain its application in fermented foods. Viable count of LAB was not affected after 24 hours of incubation in Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) broth containing MPE. The agar well-diffusion assay did not show any inhibition zone. The biotransformation of isoflavone glycosides by LAB in culture ...

Solid-state fermentation was carried out using jackfruit seed powder as substrate for the production of pigments using a fungal culture of Monascus purpureus. Due to the buffering nature of jackfruit seed powder, colour of pigments produced was stable over a wide range of initial pH of the substrate. Jackfruit seed powder with a particle size between 0.4 and 0.6 mm without any additional carbon...