Pigments produced by Monascus spp. can be used as food grade biocolorant and are preferred over the synthetic variants which elicit various adverse effects. Monascus purpureus PTCC 5303 has been investigated in the present study for orang pigment production employing submerged fermentation. Central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the three significant medium components (date sugar concentration (20-60 g/l), salt (6-12%) and pH (6-9)). According to the response surface point prediction analysis, date sugar concentration of 20 g/l, NaCl 6% with 9 pH of medium could give maximum orang pigment yield up to 6.7 OD. Under optimized experimental conditions, a maximum yield of orang pigment, biomass productivity, substrate conversion and productivity of orang pigment production were 6.24±0.05 (OD),7.2 (g/l), 82 (%) and 5.36 (g/l.day), respectively. From the results of this study, date waste can be used as a low cost substrate for the production of orang pigment in large scale studies.
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