Investigation of Citrinin Production by Some Monascus Spp

Citrinin contents of red rice samples which were collected from various manufacturers and markets had been detected.The determination results obtained by employing TLC and HPLC methods indicated that most of the red rice samples detected contain citrinin ranged 0.2～140 ug/g.Some products of Monascus Red (the extracts of Monascus products)also contain citrinin. Some isolated Monascus strains (most are Monascus anka according to their colony appearance )were cultivated in YES medium. The supernatants of these Monascus culture were found to contain citrinin by TCL method,indicating the Monascus strains tested are potential citrinin producers.In this paper,we also summarize the methods of TLC and HPLC determination of citrinin for high color value red rice samples.