Abstract
BACKGROUND
Monascus, a filamentous fungus, produces many bioactive substances. However, in the process of fermentation, Monascus also produces the mycotoxin citrinin.
Owing to the presence of citrinin, the safety of Monascus products has been questioned and their wide application limited. Using soybean isoflavones (SI) as exogenous additives, alterations in citrinin production by Monascus aurantiacus Li AS3.4384 (MALA) in different media used for liquid state fermentation were investigated.
RESULTS
Results showed that the citrinin concentration was 95.98 % lower than that of the control group after 16?d fermentation when 20.0 g L?1 SI was added to rice powder and inorganic salt medium. Citrinin production was reduced by 97.24 % after 12?d fermentation with 10.0 g L?1 SI in starch inorganic salt medium; 82.52 % after 20?d fermentation with 20.0 g L?1 SI in starch peptone medium with high starch content; 45.07 % after 14?d fermentation with 5.0 g L?1 SI in starch peptone medium with low starch content; and 82.21 % after 14?d fermentation with 20.0 g L?1 SI in yeast extract sucrose medium.
CONCLUSION
The developed method of removing citrinin is simple, safe, and effective, and it can be applied to reduce the citrinin content of Monascus products.
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