Jackfruit Seed – A Novel Substrate for the Production of Monascus Pigments through Solid-State Fermentation

Sumathy Babitha¹, Carlos R. Soccol² and Ashok Pandey¹*

¹Biotechnology Division, Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Trivandrum 695 019, India
²Process Biotechnology Laboratory, Federal University of Parana, CEP 81530-970, Curitiba-PR, Brazil

Article history:
Received October 25, 2005
Accepted January 19, 2006

Key words:
jackfruit seed powder, Monascus, pigment, solid-state fermentation

Summary:
Solid-state fermentation was carried out using jackfruit seed powder as substrate for the production of pigments using a fungal culture of Monascus purpureus. Due to the buffering nature of jackfruit seed powder, colour of pigments produced was stable over a wide range of initial pH of the substrate. Jackfruit seed powder with a particle size between 0.4 and 0.6 mm without any additional carbon source was found to be the best for pigment production. Water-soluble pigments were produced when jackfruit seed powder was supplemented with monosodium glutamate, soybean meal, peptone or chitin powder. The addition of external nitrogenous compounds showed a positive impact on water-soluble pigment production.

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