Extraction and adsorption of Monascus yellow pigments from extractive fermentation broth

Extractive fermentation was an advanced technology for a high-yield productivity of Monascus pigments.Intracellular pigments could be extracted to the extracellular broth with surfactant Triton X-100. However, the solid bonding between pigments and Triton X-100 micelles challenged a subsequent separation and purification of the pigments from fermentation broth.This study demonstrated a selective isolation of Monascus yellow pigments from the extractive fermentation broth through a dual-phase chloroform extraction and subsequent adsorption using S-8 alkali resin.Recovery of the pigments and efficiency of Triton X-100 removal reached 64.5% and 97.47%, respectively. The pigment adsorption could be described by Freundlich equilibrium model with a pseudo-second order kinetic course.The use of methanol solution containing 0.5% ( w/v) HCl led to the highest elution efficiency with a total pigment recovery yield of 79.48%.The method was demonstrated to be a new approach for pigment isolation in extractive fermentation.