• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.301-307
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• 2012

The hyphal growth, production of color pigments and monacolin K by Monascus strains were investigated in liquid medium. Thirty five different strains were collected and cultured in potato dextrose yeast extract broth (PDYB), potato dextrose broth (PDB) and malt extract broth (MEB) medea at $25^{\circ}C$ for 7 days. The growth rates of most of strains were highest in PDYB medium. Growth rate as well as pigment production were influenced by suspension conditions of mycelia during liquid cultivation. Most of strains producing monacolin K corresponded to strains producing red pigment highly and showing more pH changes of liquid media. Monacolin K produced from strains was detected in culture broth as well as mycelia. Any citrinin was not detected in monacolin K producing strains. These results imply that the selection of the strains producing red pigment highly and showing more pH changes in liquid cultivation could be applied for primary screening of Monascus strains for preparation of red mold rice.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.160-166
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• 2004

The optimal conditions for production of Monascus sp. KM100l cell mass on submerged culture and production of monacolin K on rice solid culture were investigated. An overproducing mutant of Monascus pigments, KM 1001 mutant, from Monascus purpureus KCCM60016 was selected by NTG treatment. The optimal medium for the production of KM100l mutant cell mass is instructed to be composed of 3% glucose, 2% yeast extract, 0.1 % KH$_2$PO$_4$, 0.05% The optimal conditions for production of Monascus sp. KM100l cell mass on submerged culture and production of monacolin K on rice solid culture were investigated. An overproducing mutant of Monascus pigments, KM 1001 mutant, from Monascus purpureus KCCM60016 was selected by NTG treatment. The optimal medium for the production of KM100l mutant cell mass is instructed to be composed of 3% glucose, 2% yeast extract, 0.1 % KH$_2$The optimal conditions for production of Monascus sp. KM100l cell mass on submerged culture and production of monacolin K on rice solid culture were investigated. An overproducing mutant of Monascus pigments, KM 1001 mutant, from Monascus purpureus KCCM60016 was selected by NTG treatment. The optimal medium for the production of KM100l mutant cell mass is instructed to be composed of 3% glucose, 2% yeast extract, 0.1 % $(KH_2PO_4$, 0.05% $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$, 0.2% L-asparagine, pH 4.5, and the optimal inoculum size and shaking speed were $1.5{\times}10^6$ spores/50 m1 medium and 150 rpm, respectively. On optimal conditions, 4.1 g/l of the cell mass was obtained at 28$^{\circ}C$ for 3 days. The mycelium were inoculated on 500 g of steamed rice using vinyl bag ($30.6{\times}44$ cm) and incubated at $30^{\circ}C$, 85% humidity for 21 days. Lactone form monacolin K was rapidly increased for 2 days and reached highest concentration of monacolin K (2,930 mg/kg) for 15 days, and monacolin K was decreased after 15 days.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.360-364
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• 2003

This study was conducted to investigate the preparation possibility of Beni-koji by Monascus pilosus using dried soybean curd residue(Biji). The additional effect of water(0-50％), glucose(0-10％, w/w), monosodium glutamate(0-0.l％, w/w) and citrus peel water extracts (0-0.5％, v/w) on the pigment and monacolin K content of the Biji Beni-koji were examined. Optimal added amounts of water was 20％ of dried Biji. The highest pigment content(OD at 500 nm) of Biji Beni-koji was 1.06 in 10％ glucose, 2.26 in 0.01％ monosodium glutamate and 2.61 in 0.4％ citrus peel water extracts. The content of monacolin K in the Biji Beni-koji added with 10％ glucose, 0.01％ monosodium glutamate and 0.4％ citrus peel water extracts showed 96.38 mg％(w/w), 118.25 mg％(w/w) and 104.50 mg％(w/w), respectively.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.45-47
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• 2016

Two Monascus purpureus genomes lack the monacolin K biosynthesis locus (mok), while Monascus species are generally assumed to be monacolin K producers. These M. purpureus harbor a fusion of mokA and mokB orthologues. This finding suggests that an ancestral mok locus underwent a deletion event in the M. purpureus genome.

• 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.3
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• pp.364-374
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• 2013

Monacolin K and yellow pigment, produced by Monascus sp., have each been proven to be beneficial compounds as antihypercholesterolemic and anti-inflammation agents, respectively. However, citrinin, a human toxic substance, was also synthesized in this fungus. In this research, solidstate fermentation of M. purpureus TISTR 3541 was optimized by statistical methodology to obtain a high production of monacolin K and yellow pigment along with a low level of citrinin. Fractional factorial design was applied in this study to identify the significant factors. Among the 13 variables, five parameters (i.e., glycerol, methionine, sodium nitrate, cultivation time, and temperature) influencing monacolin K, yellow pigment, and citrinin production were identified. A central composite design was further employed to investigate the optimum level of these five factors. The maximum production of monacolin K and yellow pigment of 5,900 mg/kg and 1,700 units/g, respectively, and the minimum citrinin concentration of 0.26 mg/kg were achieved in the medium containing 2% glycerol, 0.14% methionine, and 0.01% sodium nitrate at $25^{\circ}C$ for 16 days of cultivation. The yields of monacolin K and yellow pigment were about 3 and 1.5 times higher than the basal medium, respectively, whereas citrinin was dramatically reduced by 36 times.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.829-832
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate antioxidative and physiological activities of ethanol extracts concentration from Monascus-Fermented Chinese Yam (MFCY). The ethanol extracts from MFCY were measured to examine pigments, DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power and monacolin K contents. As a results show that Monascus sp. MK805, with Dioscorea japonica as the substrate can produce pigments (yellow, orange and red), DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power and monacolin K content at 29.6 (yellow), 15.1 (orange), 20.4 (red), 72.8%, 1.74(OD at 700nm), 480.6 mg/kg in EtOH extract, respectively. Therefore, fermented chinese yam (Dioscorea japonica) was estimated to be effective biological activity material.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.8
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• pp.1186-1193
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• 2015

This study was performed to investigate the changes in monacolin K content and antioxidant activities of Monascus-fermented brown rice with different germination temperatures and periods. Brown rice was germinated at 32, 35 and $37^{\circ}C$ for 1~4 days, after white rice (WB), brown rice (BR), and germinated brown rice (GBR) were fermented with M. pilosus 305-9 at $30^{\circ}C$ for 20 days. The redness, yellowness and Monascus pigments increased after germination. Total monacolin K content increased from 215.85 mg/kg of BR to 1,263.04 mg/kg of GBR ($32^{\circ}C$/1 day), whereas monacolin K content decreased with increase in germination period. Citrinin was not detected in any of the samples. Total polyphenol (TPC) and flavonoid contents (TFC) increased with increase in germination temperature and period, whereas electron donating ability (EDA) and total antioxidant activities (TAA) decreased due to reduction of Monascus pigment content. The TPC and TFC showed the highest values (13.80 mg/g and 1.30 mg/g, respectively) in GBR ($37^{\circ}C$/4 day), whereas EDA and TAA showed the highest values (22.16 mg Trolox equivalent/g and 62.27 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g, respectively) in GBR ($32^{\circ}C$/1 day). These results indicated that the optimal germination temperature and period for increasing monacolin K content and antioxidant activities was found to be at $32^{\circ}C$ for 1 day. In addition, it was found that M. pilosus 305-9 was a useful strain for increasing monacolin K content without producing citrinin in functional foods and pharmaceutical industrial regions.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.305-312
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• 2007

It is crucial to develop a miniaturized cultivation method for large and rapid screening of high-yielding mutants of monacolin-K, a powerful anti-hypercholesterolemic secondary metabolite biosynthesized by the fungal cells of Monascus ruber. In order to investigate as many strains as possible in a short time, a miniaturized fermentation method especially suitable for the cultivation of the filamentous Monascus mutants was developed using $50m{\ell}$ culture-tube ($7m{\ell}$ of working volume) instead of the traditional $250m{\ell}$ flask ($50m{\ell}$ of working volume). Generally, in filamentous fungal cell fermentations, morphologies in growth and production cultures should be maintained as thick filamentous and compact-pelleted (usually less than 1 mm in diameter) forms, respectively, for enhanced production of secondary metabolites in final production cultures. In this study, we intended to induce the respective optimal morphologies in the miniaturized culture system for the purpose of rapid screening of overproducers. Miniaturized growth culture system was successfully developed due to the mass production of spores in the statistically optimized solid medium. When large amounts of spores were inoculated into the growth cultures, and brown rice flour (20 g/L) was also supplemented to the growth medium, dense filamentous morphologies were successfully induced in the growth cultures performed with the 50 ml culture tubes. It was implied that the amounts of spores inoculated into the growth tube-cultures and the growth medium components should be the key factors for the induction of the filamentous forms in the growth fermentations. Furthermore, in order to statistically optimize production medium, multiple experiments based on Plackett-Burman design and response surface method (RSM) were carried out, resulting in more than 2 fold enhanced production of monacolin-K in the final production cultures with the optimized production medium. Notably, under the production culture conditions with the statistically optimized medium, optimal pellet sizes below 1 mm in diameter were reproducibly induced, in contrast to the thick and viscous filamentous morphologies observed in the previous production cultures.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics between non-fermented chinese yam and rice (non-FCYR) and fermented chinese yam and rice (FCYR). 1.1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, total polyphenol, flavonoid contents and reducing power were investigated to evaluate the anti-oxidation activities of FCYR. Also, productivity of monacolin K, major medicinal ingredient of FCYR, was investigated, using Aspergillus terreus KCCM 12225. In case of non-FCYR, DPPH radical scavenging activities for three kinds of yam (Dioscorea japonica, Dioscorea batatas, Dioscorea opposita) and rice were estimated about 51.8, 66.4, 42.2 and 7.5%, while in case of FCYR, those for three kinds of yam and rice were estimated to increased about 64.7, 74.7, 52.8, and 32.3%, respectively. Total polyphenol contents of non-FCYR were estimated to 196.9, 265.7, 160.1, and 91.6 mg/kg, while total polyphenol contents of FCYR were estimated to increase about 530.7, 708.3, 427.2, and 265.9 mg/kg, respectively. Total flavonoid contents of FCYR increased to 2.8-3.3 times higher than those of non-FCYR. Reducing power of non-FCYR was about 0.97, 1.28, 0.64, and 0.17 (OD at 700 nm), while, that of FCYR increased about 1.75, 2.38, 1.24, and 0.46. Remakable increase in monacolin K productivity of FCYR was observed. Monacolin K productivity of FCYR was estimated to 467.1, 514.8, 339.2, and 272.5 mg/kg, respectively. In this study, fermented chinese yam (Dioscorea batatas) was estimated to be effective biological activity material.