Study of viability of solid-phase microextraction, in vivo, in the extraction of microbial volatile organic compounds associated to the pigment production process by the Monascus fungus, in submerged fermentation

Abstract

Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) are present in several production processes in biotechnology. In this study it is evaluated the viability of use of a method involving solidphase microextraction (SPME), in vivo SPME, in the extraction of MVOCs, associated with the pigment production process by the Monascus fungus. PDMS/Car/DVB (50/30 μm) fiber in the headspace mode (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to fermentation broth study. Seventeen compounds were found associated with the presence of the fungus, being the main ones ethanol, 2-methyl-propanol, 3-methyl-butanol, 2-methyl-butanol and 2-phenyl-ethanol. These compounds have maximum concentration of 313.87, 5.51, 2.37, 0.95 and 0.70 mg L-1. The values of biomass and red pigment found for fermentation for ten days were 4.03 ± 0.21 g L-1 and 3.96 ± 0.17 (UA480). Regular MVOC productions were observed in this study, which were useful in the prediction and control of fermentation by Monascus fungus.