Microbial pigments

Abstract

Recent increasing concern regarding the use of edible coloring agents has banned various synthetic coloring agents, which have a potential of carcinogenicity and terratogenicity. This circumstance has inevitably increased the demands for safe and naturally occurring natural (edible) coloring agents, one of which is pigment from the fungus Monascus purpureus. It has long been known that the microorganisms of the genus Monascusproduce red pigments, which can be used for coloring the foods. Monascus pigments are a group of fungal secondary metabolites, called azaphilones, which have similar molecular structures as well as similar chemical properties. The pigments can easily react with the amino group containing the compounds in the medium to form water-soluble pigments. Due to the high cost of the currently used technology for the microbial pigment production on an industrial scale, there is a need for developing low cost process for the production of the pigments that could replace the synthetic ones. Utilizing cheaply available agro-industrial residues as substrate through solid-state fermentation can attain such an objective. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.