Optimization of Monacolin Production in a Controlled System

Monascus purpureus is a fungus that had been cultured on the rice in eastern Asian countries from thousand years ago and used as a food for long years. The fungus produces very valuable metabolites with polyketide structure. The most of important metabolite is Monacolin K, Lovastatin or competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase (an affective enzyme in cholesterol synthesis). This metabolite have properties including reducing blood cholesterol, treatment of progressive renal disease, the potential for treat a variety of tumors, preventing infection, vascular diseases and bone fractures. In this study, Monascus purpureus PTCC5303 has been used for lovastatin production in liquid fermentation. The nutritional concentration that were significant in biomass and lovastatin production included maltose and MgSO4, were optimized by Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in a milibioreactor. The optimum concentration of maltose and MgSO4 wereobtained 10 g/L and 0.78 g/L, respectively. According to our results, maximum lovastatin production under optimum condition containing maltose 10 g/L, peptone 5 g/L, MgSO4.7H2O 0.78 g/L, MnSO4.H2O 0.5 g/L, KH2PO4 4 g/L, thiamine 0.1 g/L, and pH=7 at 30°C, 130 rpm and flow rate 1.8 L/min was obtained to be 309 µg l−1 after 10 days of fermentation period.