PRODUCTION OF ANGKAK THROUGH CO-CULTURE OF MONASCUS PURPUREUS AND MONASCUS RUBER

Angkak (red mold rice, red yeast rice, Chinese red rice) is a traditional Chinese medicine produced by solid-state fermentation of cooked non-glutinous rice with Monascus species. The secondary metabolite of Monascus species, monacolin K/lovastatin, has been proven to lower blood lipid levels. In this study, a co-culture of Monascus purpureus MTCC 369 and Monascus ruber MTCC 1880 was used for angkak production. Four medium parameters screened by Plackett-Burman design were optimized by response surface methodology for highest lovastatin production in angkak during solid-state fermentation by the co-culture. Maximum lovastatin production of 2.84 mg g(-1) was predicted in solid medium containing 20 g rice and 40 ml liquid nutrients medium (malt extract 9.68 g l(-1), dextrose 38.90 g l(-1), MnSO4 center dot H2O 1.96 g l(-1), and MgSO4 center dot 7H(2)O 0.730 g l(-1)) by point prediction tool of Design Expert 7.1 software (Statease Inc. USA).