Monascus fermentation of dioscorea for increasing the production of cholesterol-lowering agent--monacolin K and antiinflammation agent--monascin.

Monacolin K, an inhibitor for cholesterol synthesis, is the secondary metabolite of Monascus species. The formation of the secondary metabolites of the Monascus species is affected by cultivation environment and method. This research uses sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), potato (Solanum tuberosum), casava (Manihot esculenta), and dioscorea (Dioscorea batatas) as the substrates and discusses the best substrate to produce monacolin K. The results show that Monascus purpureus NTU 301, with dioscorea as the substrate, can produce monacolin K at 2,584 mg kg(-1), which is 5.37 times to that resulted when rice is used as the substrate. In addition, more amount of yellow pigment can be found in Monascus-fermented dioscorea than in Monascus-fermented rice. The certain composition of yellow pigment is identified as monascin, which has been shown as an antiinflammation agent exhibiting potent inhibitory effects on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced inflammation in mice in previous studies. Therefore, dioscorea is concluded to be the best substrate for Monascus species to produce the cholesterol-lowering agent-monacolin K and antiinflammation agent-monascin.

Effect of red mold rice on antifatigue and exercise-related changes in lipid peroxidation in endurance exercise.

This study evaluated the effect of red mold rice supplementation on antifatigue and exercise-related changes in lipid peroxidation of male adult Wistar rats through swimming exercise. Thirty 16-week-old rats were studied by dividing them into three groups (ten for each group). Other than the control group (CD), the other two groups were divided into a high-dose (HD) treatment group (5 g red mold rice/kg body weight for the HD group), and a low-dose (LD) group (1 g red mold rice/kg body weight for the LD group). Swimming endurance tests were conducted after 28 days of red mold rice supplementation, and the result showed that the treatment group showed a higher exercise time (CD, 78.0+/-6.4; LD, 104.2+/-9.6; and HD, 129.4+/-10.9 min; p<0.05) and a higher blood glucose concentration (CD, 76.67+/-8.08; LD, 111.34+/-8.50; and HD, 117.67+/-11.06 mg/dl; p<0.05) than the CD. Moreover, the blood lactate (CD, 45.00+/-0.90; LD, 31.41+/-1.80; and HD, 28.89+/-1.62 mg/dl; p<0.05), blood urea nitrogen (CD, 21.87+/-0.75; LD, 20.33+/-0.83; and HD, 20.53+/-1.09 mg/dl; p<0.05), and hemoglobin (CD, 14.20+/-0.21; LD, 13.70+/-0.55; and HD, 13.28+/-0.35 g/dl; p<0.05) were also significantly lower than those of the CD. Besides, the result suggested that the red mold rice supplementation may decrease the contribution of exercise-induced oxidative stress and improve the physiological condition of the rats.