• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.975-980
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• 2012

Monacolin K-enriched ganghwayakssuk (Artemisia princeps Pamp.) was developed by fermentation with Monascus sp. Among the 15 Monascus spp. isolated previously from Monascus fermentation products, Monascus pilosus KMU108 produced 2,219 mg/kg of monacolin K during ganghwayakssuk fermentation with no detectable citrinin. The optimum concentrations of ganghwayakssuk and glucose determined from the response surface methodology (RSM) design were 2.2% and 3.8%, respectively. By applying these conditions, the monacolin K productivity was increased to 3,007 mg/kg after 15 days of fermentation. On the other hand, other characteristics such as the total content of flavonoids and phenolic compounds, and the antioxidant activity were relatively unchanged. Therefore, Monascus-fermented ganghwayakssuk is an excellent biomaterial for the development of functional foods because of its high level of monacolin K, known to lower cholesterol levels.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 1994

The characteristcs of monascus fermentation using a hyperpigment-producing mutant, Monascus sp. J101, were analyzed, and the extractive fermentations employing permeabilizing agents and resin were carried out to increase the productivity of red pigment. And the kinetic analysis was also carried out in case of the monascus fermentation using Amberlite XAD-7. The extracellular content of the red pigment produced by Monascus sp. J101 was about 17% of the total, and the production of pigment was regulated by its own product. The cell growth reached a stationary phase at 48 hours ofter inoculation, whereas the pigment production continued up to 100 hours, which showed the pattern of a mixed growth-associated type. During the fermentation, various permeabilizing agents were added to the culture medium and their effects on pigment production were examined. By adding 0.05% Triton X-100 at 48 hours of cultivation, about an 18% increase in pigment production was accomplished as compared to the control, 12% ethyle acetate and 15% for 0.05% deoxycholate, respectively. When a nonionic adsorbent, Amberlite XAD-7 was added to the culture medium at a concentration of 12.0% at 48 hours of cultivation, the pigment production was enhanced by about 48.9% as compared to the control.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.256-261
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• 2006

Soybeans were fermented with Monascus sp. to select strain with highest mevinolin production through solidstate fermentation. Monascus pilosus IFO 480 showed highest yield of 2.2 mg mevinolin per g dry weight without citrinin, toxic fungal secondary metabolite, as byproduct. Nutrient broth used for soybean fermentation with Monascus sp. was composed of 3.4 rice powder, 1.1 peptone, 2.6 glycine, 12.9 glucose, initial pH 6.0 (%, w/v). Mevinolin was present in fermentation substrate largely as hydroxy carboxylate form (open lactone, 91.8-96.8%), which is used as hypocholesterolemic agent. Production of mevinolin continued up to 50 days fermentation time at $30^{\circ}C$.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.400-407
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• 2013

The growth characteristics and production of color pigments by Monascus strains were investigated during liquid culture, and production of monacolin K in red mold rice was carried out by solid state fermentation. Four different Monascus ruber strains were cultured in potato dextrose yeast extract broth (PDYB) media at $25^{\circ}C$ for 15 days. The high producing strain for red pigment was not corresponded to the strain for yellow pigment. Production of red pigment was high in the strain causing the fast pH change in culture broth. Production of monacolin K in red mold rice by solid state fermentation was influenced by a combination of wet cell weight and spore density in inoculum by liquid culture. Most strains showed the high production of monacolin K in red mold rice, when submerged fermentation was carried out for 5 days as inoculum for solid state fermentation. These results suggest that submerged fermentation period of inoculum have an effect on the production of monacolin K in red mold rice by solid state fermentation, and monacolin K in red mold rice could be increased by controlling the condition of submerged fermentation for inoculum.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.744-748
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• 2004

Effects of Monascus anka and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on wine brewing were investigated. Alcohol dehydrogenase activity in cell-free extracts of M. anka was 56.89% as compared to 100% of S. cerevisiae. Although initial fermentation was low, M. anka exhibited very similar fermentation pattern and ethanol production to those of S. cerevisiae. Acidity and reducing sugar content of red wine produced by M. anka were higher than those of S. cerevisiae-produced one. During fermentation, color value increased, whereas turbidity decreased in both red wine. M. anka-produced wine showed higher color value than S. cerevisiae-produced one. During fermentation, phenolic compounds known as antioxidants of red wine decreased. Total phenolic content (1608.01 mg/L) of M. anka-produced red wine was significantly higher than that (1337.60 mg/L) of S. cerevisiae-produced one (p<0.05). These results suggest quality of red wine could be improved using M. anka.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.57-62
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• 2016

In this study, we optimized fermentation conditions for the solid state fermentation of rice bran with Monascus pilosus KCCM60084, and the antioxidant activities were investigated. Optimal fermentation conditions were determined by the production of Monacolin K, a functional secondary metabolites with cholesterol lowering activity. The highest Monacolin K production were 2.88 mg/g observed on day 10 with 45% moisture content in the substrate when inoculated with 5% inoculum (w/w). Reducing power, iron chelating activity and $ABTS^+$ radical scavenging activity were significantly enhanced after fermentation by 60, 80, and 38% respectively. Furthermore, the content of total flavonoid were found to be increased by 4.58 fold. Based on these results, Monascus-fermented rice bran showed strong possibility to be used as a natural antioxidant agent due to its enhanced antioxidant activity.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.142-145
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• 2007

The levels of citrinin and monacolin K in ten commercial Korean Monascus fermentation products were determined. The products contained citrinin at levels ranging from 0.64 to $112.27\;{\mu}/kg$, with only 2 exceeding the limit of $50\;{\mu}g/kg$ set by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The levels of monacolin K ranged from 0.87 to 1,030 mg/kg, however 6 products contained monacolin K at levels lower than 500 mg/kg, the level required by KFDA to be claimed as a functional food. Therefore, many commercial Korean Monascus fermentation products should be considered safe, however many need to be improved before being considered as functional dietary supplements.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.959-965
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• 2013

Monascus species have been used to produce fermented rice called Monascus-fermented rice (MFR). To improve a Monascus strain via activation of secondary metabolite (SM) gene clusters for use in the production of MFR, we overexpressed an ortholog of the laeA gene, which encodes a global positive regulator of secondary metabolism under the control of the strong heterologous Aspergillus nidulans alcA promoter in Monascus pilosus. The OE::laeA transformant produced more SMs, including those not detected under uninduced conditions. MFR produced using the M. pilosus OE::laeA strain contained 4 times more monacolin K, a cholesterol-lowering agent, than MFR produced using the wild-type strain. In addition, pigment production was remarkably increased, and the antioxidant activity was increased as well. The results from this study suggest that Monascus species, which are important industrial fermentative fungi in Asia, can be improved for the production of functional foods by overexpressing the laeA gene.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2021

This study was performed to investigate the antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of soybean fermented with Monascus. Also, the changes in the content of isoflavones and Monacolin K were analyzed. It was observed that the glycoside forms of daidzin and genistin were converted to aglycones of daidzein and genistein within 6 days of fermentation. The product can be used as a health functional material that can increase bioavailability. Monacolin K production was found to increase significantly with the progression of fermentation with an increase to 0.04 mg/g and 0.44 mg/g on 6 and 12 days of fermentation, respectively. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of soybean fermented with Monascus was significantly increased compared to that of soybean. The protein expression of inflammation-related genes (TNF-α, IL-6, and COX-2) in the MIN cell was significantly increased in the presence of alloxan compared to the normal group, but a decrease was observed in the presence of soybean fermented with Monascus. In conclusion, soybean fermented with Monascus showed the highest antidiabetic and antioxidant effects. These results suggest that soybean fermented with Monascus has the potential to be used as a beneficial ingredient with antidiabetic and antioxidant effects.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.327-334
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• 2018

Monascus is a source of food colorant with high productivity of the pigment azaphilone. Monascus azaphilone (MAz) is biosynthesized through a single non-reducing polyketide pathway, the major components of which are ankaflavin (1), monascin (2), rubropunctatin (3) and monascorubrin (4); valuable biological activities have been reported for these compounds. Thus, various culture conditions were explored to reduce the cost of culture ingredients, enhance productivity and modulate compound composition. In the present study, we examined an extractive fermentation (EF) method with Diaion HP-20 resin (HP20) in direct comparison to a previously explored method involving Triton X-100 (TX100) to explore the modulated production of the major MAzs. We employed wild-type Monascus purpureus as well as two derivative recombinant strains (${\Delta}mppG$ and ${\Delta}mppE$) that are known to have differential MAz profiles as that of the wild-type strain. The HP20 resin was capable of modulating the MAz profile in favor of orange MAzs 3 and 4, oxidized congeners in this class, as was TX100-a phenomenon not previously observed for TX100 EF with Monascus anka. These finding substantiate that HP20 can be employed for the selective production of oxidized MAz and for diversifying the culture conditions used for Az production.