History of Monascus_Guangdong Tianyi Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

The Origin and Development of Monascus

China is the earliest and most widely used country in the production and application of monascus.

There are many records of monascus in ancient Chinese books and medical and dietary writings, such as Wang Ch'ung's "The Seven Sons of Jian'an", Khu Sihui's "Drinking and Dining" of the Yuan Dynasty, Song Yingxing's "T’ien-kung K’ai-wu" of the Ming Dynasty, and Li Shizhen's "Materia Medica" of the Ming Dynasty, all of which show that monascus has been used for a long time in dietary and medical applications in China. Commonly used by ordinary people in their homes to make wine and vinegar, as well as fish, meat and bean products as a delicious adjuvant for processing, which is one of the great inventions of our forefathers.

Primary Technology Stage

- Origin of Monascus

China has a long history of using monascus. For many generations, all schools of thought have agreed that monascus is sweet and warm in nature, has the effect of activating blood circulation and resolving blood stasis, strengthening the spleen and eliminating food, and is used to treat postpartum dew, stagnant abdominal pain, food stagnation and fullness, red and white dysentery, and bruises.

Intermediate Technological Stage

- Adoption of strain pure culture

With the development of microbial culture technology, the adoption of microbial isolation and culture technology to isolate, screen and purify target monascus strains from existing monascus or nature has been a great achievement, greatly promoting the development of monascus related industries and laying the foundation for obtaining high economic value metabolites of monascus.

Advanced Technological Stage

- Application and production of metabolites

After the Second World War, the fermentation industry advanced by leaps and bounds, microbial applications were innovated and scholars from all over the world joined in the research. The discovery of many metabolites of high economic value in monascus research, such as the fermentation of monascus to obtain natural pigments. The metabolites of monascus were found to have cholesterol-lowering, blood sugar-regulating, blood pressure-regulating, and cancer-preventing effects, and the medicinal functions of monascus were re-understood.

The Growing Research on Monascus Cultivation Techniques

Due to the traditional solid-state culture method, which is time-consuming and prone to bacterial contamination, researchers in various countries have conducted extensive and intensive research. For example, great progress has been made in the use of biotechnology to modify existing monascus strains, in pioneering liquid fermentation techniques, in adjusting the composition or proportions of cultures, in controlling the direction of metabolic pathways through multiple changes in process parameters, and in reusing organisms by immobilizing them to increase yields.

Promote Blood Circulation and Remove Blood Stasis

In Asian countries, the application of Monascus species in food dates back over thousands of years. Several names, including Hon-Chi, Hong Qu, Dan Qu, Anka, Ankak rice, Beni-Koji, red koji, red Chinese rice, red yeast rice, and red mold rice (RMR), are used as synonyms for this food product. Monascus species exist widely in soil, starch, grain, dried fish, surface sediments of the river, and the roots of pine trees.

Anciently, Monascus are said to treat indigestion and enhance blood circulation and to invigorate the spleen and the stomach. In the Daily Herbal, Wu Re from the Yuan Dynasty advised that “red mold rice wine will remove blood stasis and improve the efficacy of drugs.”

The section on ‘Dan Qu’ in Tian Gong Kai Wu, written by Song Ying Xing in the seventeenth century, not only points out the use of fine white rice in the making of RMR, but also twice records the control procedures after the steaming and inoculation, which provide important guidance of koji management for modern manufacturing.

Dr. Endo Found Monacolin K in Monascus

Although Monacolin K and Lovastatin are the same substance, monasucs also metabolizes various substances in addition to Monacolin K, which has a comprehensive lipid regulating effect and more effective.

After the World War II, the United States experienced rapid economic growth and coronary.

Heart disease was the number one cause of death at that time. During the same period, there was much evidence that lowering cholesterol would be effective in reducing the incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease.

Monacolin K

In 1973, Akira Endo (known as the father of "statin") in Japan obtained Monacolin K, a cholesterol synthesis inhibitor, from the culture medium of monascus, and then isolated Monacolin J, L, X, M and Dihydromonacolin L from monascus. It was later confirmed that Monacolin K and lovastatin belong to the same substance.

Lovastatin

Among the various statins in clinical use, lovastatin and pravastatin are natural compounds fermented or transformed by microorganisms, of which the most effective in preventing them is monacolin K, which effectively inhibits HMG-CoA reductase. With the launch of lovastatin, many scholars began to pay attention to and conduct in-depth research on monasucs, opening up the modern era of monascus research.

Modern Research on Monascus

As research on the application of monascus intensifies, scholars have begun to use genetic engineering and fermentation engineering to improve existing primitive strains to achieve higher yields of beneficial metabolites, lower levels of harmful metabolites and promote the development of the monascus industry.

Modern Monascus Production

With the progress of society and the development of science and technology, modern biotechnology has been integrated into the production of monascus, and compared with the traditional production method, the modern production method has made great progress.

1. The high quality pure strains obtained after isolation, screening and domestication of monascus strains, which make the product quality higher and safer, and will not be restricted by climate, region and other natural conditions.

2. Adopt advanced production equipment, clean environment, facilitate the scale of red yeast production, improve production efficiency.

3. During the production of monascus, the parameters are well controlled, and the target product with high quality and concentration can be obtained.

Modern Research Directions

The secondary metabolites of monascus are the focus of recent research. A variety of physiologically active substances have been identified in the secondary metabolites of monascus, such as monascus pigments, Monacolin K, antiseptic substances, long-chain fatty acids, antioxidant substances, anti-cancer and immunity-enhancing substances.The main ones that have been exploited so far are monacolin K, gamma-aminobutyric acid and ergocalciferol. Researchers can target monascus to produce a specific substance, which has greatly promoted the use of monascus in food, health products and drugs.

The Origin and Development of Monascus

China is the earliest and most widely used country in the production and application of monascus.

Modern Monascus Production

Modern Research Directions

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