ALTHOUGH pigment production by Monascus spp. in
chemically defined media is well documented (in
submerged cultures and free cells), very few information is
available about the use of agro-industrial wastes and
immobilized cells. In this study immobilized irradiated spores
(in sponge cubes) of M. purpureus (24 h age and 0.5g cubes/50
ml medium) produced high amount of red pigment reached up
to 2.32g/ 1, after 4 days of incubation, compared with the
amount'of pigment produced by the free cells (1.84 g/ 1). Also,
potato processing wastewater (PPW) was examined as the main
culture medium for red pigment production by this fungus
• under optimizing culture conditions for repeated batches. The
results showed that with irradiated immobilized cells, the
maximum amount of red pigment production (1.96 g/ 1) was
recorded at the second batch. Moreover, high reductions of
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD); 82.6 % for this waste was
obtained during the second batch. The data revealed that very
little amount of soluble toxic substances in the extracted
sample leading to only 8% dead chicken embryos.
Keywords: Monascus sp., pigments, submerged fermentation,
gamma rays.