Monascus-fermented rice has traditionally been used as a natural food colorant and food preservative of meat and fish for centuries. It has recently become a popular dietary supplement because of many of its bioactive constituents being discovered, including a series of active drug compounds, monacolins, indicated as the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors for reducing serum cholesterol level. The controversy of its safety has been provoked because a mycotoxin, citrinin, is also produced along with the Monascus secondary metabolites by certain strains or under certain cultivation conditions. This review introduces the basic production process and addresses on the compounds with bioactive functions. Current advances in avoiding the harmful ingredient citrinin are also discussed.
Monascus-fermented red rice has traditionally been used as a natural food colorant or food preservative of meat and fish for centuries. Recently, it has become a popular dietary supplement due to many of its bioactive constituents being discovered. Commercial Monascus-fermented red rice was used in this study. According to the cell-based cytotoxicity assay, a compound with selective cytotoxicity was found and identified as ankaflavin. Ankaflavin was found to be toxic to human cancer cell lines Hep G2 and A549 with a similar IC50 value of 15 microg/mL, while it posed no significant toxicity to normal MRC-5 and WI-38 cells at the same concentration. For elucidating the possible mode of cell death, Hep G2 cells were treated with ankaflavin for 48 h to examine the morphological change of the chromatin. Chromosomal condensation and fragmentation were found, and a significant sub-G1 peak was found by flow cytometry. Apoptosis was therefore suggested as the possible mechanism. Monascin, an analogue of ankaflavin, was also tested in this study. However, it showed no cytotoxicity and did not induce death of Hep G2 cells.
The effects of calcium sulfate concentration in soymilk on the microstructure of tofu and the constitutions of protein in tofu whey were investigated. The firm tofu made with 0.4% CaSO(4).2H(2)O was found to be most uniform and continuous in the microstructure. This tofu gave the maximal tofu yield, maximal solid and protein recoveries, and the best water retention ability. The results of gel electrophoresis and the ratio of amino nitrogen to total organic nitrogen indicated that the low molecular weight proteins in tofu whey were at their lowest when the tofu was made with 0.4% CaSO(4).2H(2)O. The SEM observations suggested that the tofu made with 0.4% CaSO(4).2H(2)O has the most uniform and homogeneous microstructure and, consequently, can most efficiently retain soybean proteins and water in the tofu gel.
A natural antioxidant extract with activity greater than BHA and equal to BHT was isolated from rosemary leaves. The extract was separated into 7 primary fractions with liquid chromatography, using silicic acid as an adsorbent followed by gradient elution. Each fraction was rechromatographed to yield a total of 16 subfractions. Two compounds, carnosol and ursolic acid, were identified by infrared, mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry. Carnosol was shown to be one of the active antioxidant components in rosemary. Ursolic acid was not an effective antioxidant. Further fractionation of the most active antioxidant subfractions by high performance liquid chromatography and the elucidation of the chemical structures of these fractions are now in progress.
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