TAXONOMIC INVESTIGATION OF MONASCUS PURPUREUS 94-25 STRAIN

Monascus sp. 94-25 strain was isolated from red rice with the purpose of red pigments submerged production. Morphological characterisation on the taxonomically important for the genus media, showed that the strain produced cleistothecia with oval ascospores and aleiroconidia. Comparison with a referent strain Monascus purpureus Went 109.07 was made and it was proved that there were no considerable differences between both strains. Monascus sp. 94-25 was a prototroph and had optimal growth temperature 34°C. Investigation of the fermentation and assimilation capacity of both strains was performed. It was found that both of them assimilated well glucose, while highest fermentation ability was observed when grown on galactose. Similarly to the referent strain Monascus sp. 94-25 could grow on starch and protein containing natural substrates. Regarding the morphological and biochemical investigations the newly isolated strain 94-25 could be considered as Monascus purpureus.