College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2012 Dec;96(6):1421-40. doi: 10.1007/s00253-012-4504-3. Epub 2012 Oct 27.
Monascus pigments (MPs) as natural food colorants have been widely utilized in food industries in the world, especially in China and Japan. Moreover, MPs possess a range of biological activities, such as anti-mutagenic and anticancer properties, antimicrobial activities, potential anti-obesity activities, and so on. So, in the past two decades, more and more attention has been paid to MPs. Up to now, more than 50 MPs have been identified and studied. However, there have been some reviews about red fermented rice and the secondary metabolites produced by Monascus, but no monograph or review of MPs has been published. This review covers the categories and structures, biosynthetic pathway, production, properties, detection methods, functions, and molecular biology of MPs.
红曲色素（Monascus pigments，MPs）作为天然食用色素，已在世界范围内（尤其是在中国和日本）的食品工业中得到广泛应用。此外，MPs 还具有多种生物活性，如抗诱变和抗癌特性、抗菌活性、潜在的抗肥胖活性等。因此，在过去的二十年中，人们越来越关注 MPs。到目前为止，已经鉴定和研究了 50 多种 MPs。然而，虽然已经有一些关于红曲米和红曲霉产生的次级代谢产物的综述，但尚未有关于 MPs 的专论或综述出版。本综述涵盖了 MPs 的类别和结构、生物合成途径、生产、性质、检测方法、功能以及分子生物学等方面。
