Isolation and identification of Talaromyces purpurogenus and preliminary studies on its pigment production potentials in solid state cultures

Abstract

ABSTRACTTextile dyes and effluents are considered as one of the worst polluters of our priceless water sources and soils. New sources of natural pigments are getting particular research interests due to the toxicity produced by synthetic colouring agents. Plant sources are being explored extensively for natural pigments but inadequate yield of those sources hampered the progression. Apart from the enormous antibacterial applications, fungi may provide a readily available alternative source of natural pigments. Here, we isolated a fungal strain from spoiled mango which is capable of producing pigments suitable for textile dyeing. The spoiled mangoes were selected as a source of different fungi. Among them one particular fungal isolate was selected for its visible production of secondary metabolites. Molecular identification using internal transcribed spacer sequencing revealed the fungi as Talaromyces verruculosus strain. The growth and pigment production of the fungi was optimised to obtain highest yield....