Abstract—The stability to solvent is one of crucial parameters to apply Monascus pigment in food and textile industries. Ultrasonic induced mutants from Monascus purpureus TISTR 3002 were tested for the solvent stability in order to select the best pigment producer with the wide range of solvents. Reports of pigment stability percentages of all generations were shown. Estimation of Monascus pigments can be expressed as the total pigment yield (y) from the results of the significant parameters (solvents, yellow, orange and red pigments) on multiple linear regression. The color yield value equations can be represented as y = 0.132 (+0.35) + 1.278 (+0.35) *[yellow] + 1.235(+0.35)*[red]. The maximum total pigment yield gained from these strains was the results of the contribution of yellow and red pigments. Optimization analysis indicated that G4 was the best pigment producer that could sustained the wide range of solvents with the highest residual solvent stability.

Index Terms—Monascus purpureus, colorant, stability, kinetic, yellow pigment, orange pigment, red pigment, mutant.

Authors are with Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand (email: stk@kmutnb.ac.th).

Cite: hantraporn Wongsorn, Issara Wongjewboot, and Sasithorn Kongruang, "Solvent Stability of Ultrasonic Mutants of Monascus purpureus Pigments," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 206-210, 2011.