Engineering rice based medium for production of lovastatin with Monascus species

Abstract

Angkak (red mold rice, red yeast rice, Chinese red rice), a traditional Chinese functional food is produced by solid-state fermentation of cooked non-glutinous rice with <i>Monascus</i> species. The secondary metabolite of <i>Monascus</i> species, monacolin K (lovastatin), has been proved to lower blood lipid levels. In this study, the best <i>Monascus purpureus</i> strain was selected from MTCC 369, 410, 1090 based on lovastatin concentration. Four medium parameters (NH₄Cl, MgSO₄, NaCl, CaCl₂) screened by Plackett-Burman design from total nine medium variables were optimised by Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology. Maximum lovastatin production of 3.420 mg/g was predicted in the solid medium containing 20 g rice and 40 ml liquid nutrient (NH₄Cl 14.32 g/l, MgSO₄ 0.76 g/l, NaCl 14.65 g/l, and CaCl₂ 0.54 g/l) by the point prediction tool of Design Expert Ver. 7.1 software at 14^th day of fermentation.