Increasing the Value of Rice by Transformation into Red Yeast Rice

บทคัดย่อ

Red yeast rice (RYR) is rice fermented with Monascus. RYR products can be used as food additives, coloring materials, and dietary supplements. Many researchers have reported valuable metabolites in RYR, such as Monascus pigments (red, yellow, and orange) and other bioactive metabolites, especially monacolin K, g-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and citrinin, etc. The quantities of Monascus pigments and bioactive metabolites are dependent on the species of mold and optimum culture condition. Rice is a major agricultural product of Thailand. Transformation of whole rice and broken rice into RYR will provide added value to the rice. However, the quality of RYR products must be controlled, especially citrinin content, for consumer health protection.