The experiments were performed in baffled Erlenmeyer flasks
(1000 mL) with 360 mL of culture medium added with 40 mL of
Monascus ruber inoculum. The flasks were incubated at 30 1C on
rotary shaker (Tecnal, Brazil) at 120 min-
1
. The initial pH of the
medium was adjusted to 6.5 with HCl or NaOH and samples were
taken every 24 h from each flask. The end of the fermentation was
defined when there was a decrease in production of pigments and
the concentration of biomass kept constant.