Abstract
The effects of five nitrogen sources (peptone, L-aspartic acid, (NH4) 2SO4, monosodium glutamate, KNO3) on the production of pigments by Monascus anka AHU 9085 were investigated. Pigment production in the presence of a 0.3% nitrogen source was greater than that in the presence of a 0.03% nitrogen source, and this increase was greatest when 0.3% peptone was used to produce yellow pigments and red pigments. As for the amount of pigment production, peptone gave the best yield among the five nitrogen sources, and addition of 0.3% L-aspartic acid to 1.0% peptone promoted the increase further. The ratio of A500/A400 was the largest for the combination of 1.0% peptone and 0.3% monosodium glutamate. In the case of peptone with L-aspartic acid, the main pigments increased were assumed to be monascorubrin, rubropunctatin, monascin and ankaflavin by HPLC analysis.
