S.R. Mhalaskar, S. S. Thorat and Y. R. Deshmukh
Abstract
The toxicity problems caused by those of synthetic colours to the consumers have created a mounting interest towards natural colours. The food bio-colours are gaining importance and have become the focus of attention of many scientists all over the world. The feasibility for the production of food bio-colours by M. purpureus (MTCC 410) in submerged bio-reactor fermentation was investigated by optimizing the fermentation conditions. The higher yield of red, orange, yellow and total bio-colours were 50.43, 41.67, 7.00 and 99.50 OD Units/g dcm respectively achieved with submerged bioreactor fermentation at optimized process parameters including 400 rpm agitation speed, 30°C incubation temperature with aeration of 1.5 Lpm and an incubation period of 5 days by utilization of magnesium sulphate as a mineral source The enhanced yield indicated that submerged bio-reactor fermentation process has good potentiality for the production of food bio-colours.