Functional Red Pigment Production in Solid-state Fermentation of Barley by Monascus sp. EBF1

The time-dependent changes of red pigments production in solid-state plant scale fermentor using barley cultured with Monascus sp., instead of rice which was traditionally used, were investigated in this study. A steady increase in the yield of red pigments in barley occurred between the 3rd and 6th days. The optimized conditions (inoculation volume = 6∼8%, initial pH = 6, air supply = 0.6∼0.8 vvm) promoted the production of red pigments. Short-time steaming of barley (<20 min) decreased fungal growth and pigments production due to the insufficient gelatinization. The optical density of the red pigments under the optimized conditions was 120 at 500 nm per gram of barley. In addition, the metabolites from the fermented barley with Monascus sp. showed antibacterial effects against Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Barley was shown to be one of the best grain sources for solid-state fermentation with Monascus sp., for obtaining natural pigments and also functional food materials.