Evaluating anti-microbial and anti-oxidative potential of red biopigment from Monascus purpureus

In the present study, Monascus red biopigment produced by solid-state fermentation was evaluated for its anti-microbial and antioxidative potential. The antibacterial activity through Scanning Electron Microscopy against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus was found to show morphological damage in some cells, as evidenced by the outflow of cell contents, deep craters, burst cells, and cell death at concentration of 200 µg/ml of biopigment. Moreover, antibacterial activity through agar well diffusion method against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was in range of 2-6 mm by varying concentration of biopigment from 1 to 20 mg/ml.Next, the antifungal activity of the extracted biopigment was in the range of 2-9 mm for Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum and Alternaria alternata. In addition, antioxidant efficacy of red biopigment through DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assay results was found to show 59.69 %, 91.1 %, and 15.22 % free radical scavenging activity. The results of this study revealed that red biopigment has potential to modulate the antimicrobial and antioxidative activity.