Isolasi, Identifikasi Pigmen, dan Analisis Aktivitas Antioksidan Pigmen Monascus

Abstract

Monascus is a type of organism that can produce natural pigments. Monascus pigments have been widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Besides having natural pigments, Monascus also contains antioxidants as preventing of the free radicals. The purpose of this study is to isolate, identify the type of pigment, and analyze antioxidant activity. This research method is divided into 3 stages; Monascus isolation, pigment identification with UV-vis spectrophotometer and TLC, and calculation of antioxidant activity with DPPH. The isolated Monascus had 3 pigment fractions and contained a total carotenoid of 18.55 µg/g, total orange pigment of 278.25 units/mL, and red pigment of 235.75 units/mL. Antioxidant activity of 4.22 ppm and included in the high category.  Key words: antioxidant; monascus; pigment.Â