The results of our study indicate the feasibility and applicability of
the corn cob, an agricultural byproduct, for SSF production of pigments
from M. purpureus KACC 42430. The highest yield of the pigments
(25.42 OD Units/gdfs) indicates that corn cob powder is an effective
substrate for SSF. As mentioned above pulverized corn cob enhance the
enzymatic digestibility of M. purpureus, resulted in promoting greater
pigment production. This enhanced pigment production compared to
previously reported substrates. The corn cob is economical and
environmentally safe to end users. To our knowledge this is the first
report on pigment production using corn cob powder in SSF. Our future
work will focus on the chemical nature of the pigments (isochromene
derivatives, specifically azaphilone compounds) and the toxin citrinin, a
byproduct of the fermentation process.