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A facile macroporous resin-based method for separation of yellow and orange Monascus pigments

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Abstract

The yellow Monascus pigments (YMPs) named monascin and ankaflavin and the orange Monascus pigments (OMPs) named rubropunctatin and monascorubrin are two groups of bioactive components in a mixture state in the Monascus fermented products. In order to separate these two groups of bioactive pigments, a facile macroporous resin-based method was developed. The weak-polar resin CAD-40 was selected from the seven tested macroporous resins as it revealed better properties for the adsorption and desorption of the YMPs and OMPs. Then, CAD-40 resin was used for column-chromatographic separation. After eluted by 4 bed volumes of ethanol, the yellow group (monascin and ankaflavin) and the orange group (rubropunctatin and monascorubrin) were successfully separated and purified, with an increased content from 49.3% and 44.2% in the crude pigment extract to 85.2% and 83.0% in the final products, respectively. This method would be helpful for the large-scale separation and purification of Monascus pigment products with specific bioactivity.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Program of Natural Science Foundation of China (31730068), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Hubei Province, China (No. 2019AHB067), and the Yangtze Fund for Youth Teams of Science and Technology Innovation (No.2016cqt02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, 434025, Hubei, China

    Suo Chen, Meng-Xiang Gao, Ying-Bao Liu, Qing-Hua Wu, Hua-Lin Yang & Li Li

  2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China

    Dong-Xiao Su

  3. College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, 434025, Hubei, China

    Jia-Lan Zhang

Authors
  1. Suo Chen
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  2. Dong-Xiao Su
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  3. Meng-Xiang Gao
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  4. Jia-Lan Zhang
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  5. Ying-Bao Liu
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  6. Qing-Hua Wu
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  7. Hua-Lin Yang
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  8. Li Li
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Correspondence to Li Li.

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Chen, S., Su, DX., Gao, MX. et al. A facile macroporous resin-based method for separation of yellow and orange Monascus pigments. Food Sci Biotechnol 30, 545–553 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-021-00892-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-021-00892-1

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