紅麴菌種分離及其色素生產之研究

紅麴的二次代謝產物紅麴色素常被當作天然色素，添加於各種食品中，具有多項保健功能。本實驗從市售紅麴米產品篩選高紅麴色素的紅麴生產菌株，篩選過程利用顯微鏡觀察，最後篩選純化出兩株特性相異的紅麴菌株。本實驗利用白米飯培養紅麴，使用不同水分比例1.0:0.9、1.0:1.1、1.0:1.3和1.0:1.5蒸熟米飯，再接種上述不同的紅麴菌株，觀察何種水分比例最適合該紅麴菌株的生長？培養到第14天時，米和水比例為1.0:1.1、1.0:1.3和1.0:1.5的白米飯都已生長覆蓋紅麴菌絲，取中間值決定以1.0:1.3的比例作為後續培養紅麴菌株的條件。接著取不同紅麴菌株的醱酵產物，以TLC薄層層析法確認紅麴菌株內色素含有黃色及紅色及使用SPE固相萃取完全分離紅麴菌株的色素內色素，以乙腈當作移動相，逐步分離紅色色素和黃色色素。最後再以HPLC檢測不同紅麴菌株所產生的色素種類及含量的差異，證實兩株紅麴菌的色素產量有不同，不僅初步證實了兩株紅麴菌株是不同的菌種，也證實了SPE能夠完全分離紅麴裡的紅色色及黃色色素。本研究獲取紅麴色素高生產菌株，並建立紅麴色素的分離方法，未來將可提供純化之紅麴色素進一步探討其化學結構及保健功能。

關鍵字

紅麴色素；薄層層析；固相萃取

並列摘要

Monascus pigments of ang-khak rice are secondary metabolites of monascus strains, which possess many health functions and are often used as natural colorants added to many kinds of foods. In current study, many high monascus pigments producing strains were isolated from commercial ang-khak rice products. Microscopic observation was performed to distinguish the strains during the screening process. At last, two monascus strains with different characteristics were purified. The strains were cultivated individually on various cooked rice, which were prepared using different ratios of rice to water. The cooked rice prepared using optimal ratio of rice to water for growth of monascus strains was determined. At the 14th day of cultivation, mycelia of monascus strains fully covered cooked rice prepare from 1.0:1.1, 1.0:1.3, or 1.0:1.5 ratios of rice to water. We chose the cooked rice prepared in 1.0:1.3 ratios of rice to water for further study. Thin-layer chromatography and solid-phase extraction were used to extract and isolate pigments from monascus products. The obtaining pigments were then identified and quantitated by using HPLC. In this study, we have obtained 2 monascus strains from commercial monascus products with high productivity of monascus pigments. We have also established methods for isolation of monsacus pigments. We will be able to produce purified monascus pigments for study of their chemical structures and health functions in future.