• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.164-169
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• 2004

We had screened the Monascus strain capable of producing monacolin K dominantly among 29 Monascus strains. Red yeast rice was prepared by culturing each Monascus sp. with 200 g of steamed rice (12$0^{\circ}C$, 20 min) at 3$0^{\circ}C$ for 10 days and drying at 8$0^{\circ}C$ for 20 min. As a result, red yeast rice cultured by M. purpureus ATCC16457, M. purpureu IFO 32316, M. purpureus IFO 32228, M. kaoliang ATCC 46595 and M. kaoliang ATCC 46596 produced lots of red pigment and monacolin K. An unidentified Monascus sp. showed the highest productivityof red pigment and monacolin K among 29 Monascus strains. Its production of red pigment and monacolin K was 1.3∼39 times and 2.4∼8 times higher than other strains, respectively. Although the morphological characteristics of unidentified Monascus strain were a little different from the typical M. purpureus, it was identified as M. purpureus CBS 281.34 from the result of sequencing of ITS (Internal transcribed spacer) and 28S ribosomal RNA (partial).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.711-715
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• 2004

The stability of 80% ethanol-soluble pigments from Monasus purpureus CBS 281.34 was investigated according to storage temperature, pH and addition of organic acid. Also, the stability of ethanol-soluble pigment in aqueous system was examined after the addition of distilled water in the range of 0∼80% during the storage at 1$0^{\circ}C$ and 2$0^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks with water soluble pigment. The heat stability was the highest (9.74%) when the 80% ethanol-soluble pigments were stored at 1$0^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks. However, the 80% ethanol-soluble pigments stored at 6$0^{\circ}C$ and 8$0^{\circ}C$ for 24 h and 12 h greatly decreased by 23.06% and 30.36%, respectively. Although the 80% ethanol-soluble pigments were stable in the range of pH 4∼8, the degradation rate of pigment increased at pH 2 and PH 10.80% ethanol extract was adjusted to PH 4 by adding organic acids. The rate of pigment degradation was not different from control for 4 weeks. Red pigment was stable in the treatment of organic acids. And the stability of ethanol-soluble pigment in aqueous system was gradually decreased as the pigment content and storage time increased. Additionally, the stability of ethanol-soluble pigment was higher at 1$0^{\circ}C$ than at 2$0^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.830-834
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• 2003

The optimal condition for the production and extraction of monacolin K was reported. HPLC was used to determine monacolin K a kind of metabolite of Monascus from red-koji made of Monascus purpureus CBS 281.34. After culturing Monascus in solid and liquid media at $30^{\circ}C$ for 10 days, each of these were inoculated with soybean, wheat, barley, waxy rice, and rice and cultivated at $30^{\circ}C$ for 11 days. The production of monacolin K was the highest(0.35g/100g) when cultured with rice. The yield of monacolin K in red-koji increased with drying temperature and time according to the removal of water. Considering monacolin K content and the degree of death of Monascus, red-koji was dried at $80^{\circ}C$ for 60 min. Although monacolin K in red-koji was mostly extracted by 80% ethanol, there was no difference in monacolin K between shaking for 1 min and extraction for $0{\sim}24$ hr after sonication for 7 min. The extracted yield of monacolin K was the highest when the ratio of red-koji and 80% ethanol was 1:9. Moreover, the production of monacolin K appeared to be parallel with that of the pigment.