Restriction of Citrinin Accumulation in Monascus by Improving Culture Temperature

Monascus pigment, one kind of natural food colorants made from Monascus fermentation, is usually accompanied with citrinin contamination more or less. In this paper temperature influence on citrinin accumulation was investigated. Two strains, Monascus aurantiacus (CGMCC AS 3.4384, a citrinin producer), and Monascus sp. M108 (a pigments producer) were examined. The citrinin production of two strains decreased dramatically when the culture temperature increased from 27degC to 37degC. The results also demonstrated that the citrinin can be metabolized by Monascus itself. A simple and effective method was found to reduce citrinin content by manipulating the fermentation at proper high temperature without decreasing the pigment production. As a result, we acquire a safety pigment production offered by Monascus.