International Journal of Microbial Resource Technology
©2012 INPRESSCO. All Rights Reserved.
Available at http://ijmrt.inpressco.com
ISSN 2278 – 3822
Review Article
Microbial Pigments: A review
Kamla Malik*, Jayanti Tokkas1 and Sneh Goyal
Department of Microbiology
Department of Biochemistry
College of Basic Sciences & Humanities
CCS HAU, Hisar-125004, Haryana, India
1
*E-mail: [email protected]: [email protected]
Accepted 4 Nov. 2012, Available online 1 Dec. 2012, Vol.1, No. 4 (Dec. 2012)
Abstract
In last few decades, there has been an increasing trend towards replacement of synthetic colorants with natural
pigments because of the strong consumer demand for more natural products. Natural pigments and synthetic dyes
have been extensively used in various fields of everyday life such as food production, textile industries, paper
production, agricultural practices and researches, water science and technology. Natural pigments not only have
the capacity to increase the marketability of products, they also display advantageous biological activities as
antioxidants and anticancer agents. On the other hand, synthetic pigments cause considerably environmental
pollution and adverse toxicological side effects. It is therefore, essential to explore various natural sources of food
grade colorants and their use potentials. Use of microbial pigments in processed food is an area of promise with
large economic potential. However, microbial pigments offer challenges due to high cost, lower stability and
variation in shades due to changes in pH.
Keywords: Microorganism, pigment, food, colour, natural
1. Introduction
Color of a food substance is important to indicate its
freshness and safety that are also indices of good
aesthetic and sensorial values. In the recent years,
coloring of food with pigments produced from
natural sources is of worldwide interest and is
gaining importance. These pigments are looked upon
for their safe use as a natural food dye in replacement
of synthetic ones because of undesirable market. A
well textured food, rich in nutrients and flavor, can
not be eaten unless it has the right color. The demand
for natural source of such compounds is increasing
day by day because of the awareness of positive
health benefits out of natural compounds. It is
therefore, essential to explore various natural sources
of food grade colorants and their potentials. Though
many natural colors are available, microbial colorants
play a significant role as food coloring agent, because
of its production and easy down streaming process.
Industrial production of natural food colorants by
microbial fermentation has several advantages such
as cheaper production, easier extraction, higher yields
through strain improvement, no lack of raw materials
and no seasonal variations.
Pigments
are
compounds
with
characteristics of importance to many industries. In
the food industry they are used as additives, color
intensifiers, antioxidants, etc. Pigments come in a
wide variety of colors, some of which are watersoluble (Tibor, 2007).
Microorganisms are the most powerful
creatures in existence and determine the life and
death on this planet. Microorganisms are associated
with all the foods that we eat and are responsible for
the formation of certain food products by the process
of fermentation and can also be used as a source of
food in the form of single cell proteins and food
supplements in the form of pigments, amino acids,
vitamins, organic acids, and enzymes. In this way the
pigments from microbial sources are a good
alternative. Microorganisms are known to produce a
variety of pigments; therefore they are promising
source of food colorants (Aberoumand, 2011 and
361
Malik et al.
Ahmad, 2012). Most of the bacteria and fungi are
widely studied for their potential as a source of food
colorants.
Natural pigments possess anticancer
activity, contain pro-vitamin A and have some
desirable properties like stability to light, heat and pH
(Joshi et al., 2003). Thus, the food industry has
become increasingly interested in the use of
microbial technology to produce colors for use in
foods. It can also help to overcome the growing
public concern over the adverse health effects of
addition of synthetic colors in food products.
Furthermore, natural colorants will not only be
beneficial to the health of human beings, but it will
be a boon for the preservation of biodiversity as
harmful chemicals released into the environment
while producing synthetic colorants could be stopped.
These natural colorants are used in baby foods,
breakfast cereals, pastas, sauces, processed cheese,
fruit drinks, vitamin-enriched milk products, and
some energy drinks. Thus, natural colors in addition
to being environment friendly, can also serve the dual
need for visually appealing colors and probiotic
health benefits in food products (Nagpal et al., 2011).
In this review, we have summarized the current
understanding of microbial pigments and their
potential application in the industries.
International J. Microbial Resource Technol. ISSN 2278 – 3822
Heamatococcus pluvialis. Astaxanthin production
using Agrobacterium aurantiacum has been
investigated to a lesser extent as compared to
Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous (Golubev, 1995). A
fungus strain Penicillium oxalicum with the
properties to produce a red colorant can be applied in
food and cosmetic industries (Sardaryan et al., 2004).
3. Classification of pigments
1.
2.
2. Pigment produced by Microorganisms
Some of the most important natural pigments are
cartenoids, flavonoids, tetrapirroles and some
xantophylls as astaxanthin. The pigment most
commonly used in industries is beta-carotene which
is obtained from some microalgae and cyanobacteria.
Astaxanthin obtained from phaffia rohodozoa and
Haematococcus pluviais, is a red pigment of great
commercial value and is used in feed, pharmaceutical
and aquaculture industries. Micro-organisms which
have the ability to produce pigments in high yields
include species of Monascus, Paecilomyces, Serratia,
Cordyceps, Streptomyces and yellow-red and blue
compounds produced by Penicillium herquei and
Penicillium atrovenetum, Rhodotorula, Sarcina,
Cryptococcus,
Monascus
purpureus,
Phaffia
rhodozyma, Bacillus sp., Achromobacter, Yarrowia
and Phaffia also produce a large number of pigments
(Table 1). Monascus species, fungi which produce
monascus pigments, have long been used in
production of traditional East Asian foods such as red
rice wine and red bean curd (Mohankumari et al.,
2009).
Natural astaxanthin from microorganisms is
mainly supplied by the red basidiomycetous yeast
Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous and the green algae
3.
4.
Pigments are classified as either organic/inorganic or
natural/synthetic. Biological pigments can be
classified based on structural affinities and natural
occurrence. Some examples of naturally occurring
pigments are:
Riboflavin is a yellow water-soluble vitamin
produced by many micro-organisms. Traditional
chemical synthesis of riboflavin is now being
replaced
by
commercially
competitive
biotechnological processes using ascomycetes
Ashbya gossypii, filamentous fungi Candida famata,
or bacterium Bacillus subtilis (Stahmann et al.,
2000). It is used in baby foods, breakfast cereals,
pastas, sauces, processed cheese, fruit drinks,
vitamin-enriched milk products, and some energy
drinks.
Beta-carotene: Phycomyces and Mucor circinelloides
(wild type) are a potential source of beta-carotene.
The European Union Committee considers that betacarotene produced by fermentation of Blakeslea
trispora is equivalent to the chemically synthesized
material used as food colorant and is therefore
acceptable for use as a coloring agent in foodstuffs
(European Commission, 2000).
Canthaxanthin is produced as the major carotenoid
pigment by orange- and dark pink-pigmented
bacteriochlorophyll-containing
Bradyrhizobium
(photosynthetic) strains isolated from stem nodules of
Aeschynomene species and Halobacterium spp.
Canthaxanthins are potent antioxidants and inhibit
the oxidation of lipids in liposomes.
Carotenoids are yellow to orange-red pigments that
are ubiquitous in nature. A number of
microorganisms produce this pigment such as
Serratia and Streptomyces. Carotenoids are effective
antioxidants and are widely used as food colorants.
Majority of microbes reported produce carotenoids
belonging to Myxococcus (Browning et al., 2003),
Streptomyces (Takano et al., 2005), Mycobacterium,
Agrobacterium (Yokoyama
et al., 1994) and
Sulfolobus (Kull and Pfander, 1997).
362
International Journal of Microbial Resource Technology
©2012 INPRESSCO. All Rights Reserved.
Available at http://ijmrt.inpressco.com
ISSN 2278 – 3822
Table 1. List of pigment producing microorganisms.
Microorganism(s)
Bacteria
Agrobacterium aurantiacum
Paracoccus carotinifaciens
Bradyrhizobium sp.
Flavobacterium sp., Paracoccus zeaxanthinifaciens
Achromobacter
Bacillus
Brevibacterium sp.
Corynebacterium michigannise
Corynebacterium insidiosum
Rugamonas rubra , Streptoverticillium rubrireticuli,Vibrio
gaogenes, Alteromonas rubra
Rhodococcus maris
Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous
Haloferax alexandrinus
Staphylococcus aureus
Chromobacterium violaceum
Serratia marcescens, Serratia rubidaea,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Xanthomonas oryzae
Janthinobacterium lividum
Pigments/Molecule
Colour/appearance
Astaxanthin
Astaxanthin
Canthaxanthin
Zeaxanthin
Indigoidine
Prodigiosin
Pink-red
Pink-red
Dark- red
yellow
Creamy
Brown
Orange yellow
Greyish to creamish
Blue
Red
Astaxanthin
Canthaxanthin
Staphyloxanthin Zeaxanthin
Violacein
Prodigiosin
Pyocyanin
Xanthomonadin
Violacein
Bluish- red
Pink -red
Dark Red
Golden Yellow
Purple
Red
Blue-green
Yellow
Purple
Algae
Dunaliella salina
Chlorococcum
Hematococcus
β-carotene
Lutein
Canthaxanthin
Red
Fungi
Aspergillus sp.
Aspergillus galucus
Blakeslea trispora
Helminthosporium catenarium
Helminthosporium avenae
Penicilllum cyclopium
Penicilllum nalgeovensis
Fusarium sporotrichioides
Haematococcus Pluvialis
Monascus sp.
Monascus purpureus
Monascus roseus
Monascus sp.
Penicillium oxalicum
Blakeslea trispora
Cordyceps unilateralis
Ashbya gossypi
Mucor circinelloides, Neurospora crassa and Phycomyces
blakesleeanus
Penicillium purpurogenum , Paecilomyces sinclairii
Pacilomyces farinosus
Lycopene
Astaxanthin
Monascorubramin Rubropunctatin
Monascin Ankaflavin
Canthaxanthin
Ankaflavin
Anthraquinone
Lycopene
Naphtoquinone
Riboflavin
β-carotene
Orange-red
Dark -red
Cream
Red
Bronze
Orange
Yellow
Red
Red
Red Orange
Red-yellow
Orange-Pink
Yellow
Red
Red
Deep blood-red
Yellow
Yellow-orange
Anthraquinone
Red
Red
Astaxanthin
Torularhodin
-
Red
Melanin black
Pink-red
Orange-red
Brown
Prodigiosin
Rubrolone
Red
Red
β -carotene
Yeast
Cryptococus sp.
Saccharomyces neoformans var. nigricans
Phaffia rhodozyma
Rhodotorula sp. Rhodotorula glutinis
Yarrowia lipolytica
Actinomycetes
Streptoverticillium rubrireticuli
Streptomyces echinoruber
363
Malik et al.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Prodigiosin is a multipurpose red pigment, produced
by various microorganisms such as Serratia
marcescens, Vibrio psychoerythrus, Rugamonas
rubra, actinomycetes, such as Streptoverticillium
rubrireticuli and other eubacteria (Khanafari et al.,
2006). It is known to have antibacterial, anti-malarial,
antineoplastic and antibiotic activity.
Phycocyanin is a blue pigment, produced by
cyanobacteria which contain chlorophyll a. The blue
colorant is known by the name spirulina (blue green
alga), which is also the name of a dietary supplement
rich in proteins and consists of dried cyanobacteria.
Violacein is a versatile pigment from a bacterium
Chromobacterium violaceum that exhibits several
biological activities. It has gained increasing
importance in industrial markets, such as in medicine,
cosmetics, food and textiles.
Astaxanthin (3, 3’-dihydroxy-b, b-carotene-4, 4’dione) is a orange- red pigment and produced by
microorganisms such as red basidiomycetous yeast
Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous (Golubev, 1995),
green algae Heamatococcus pluvialis, Agrobacterium
aurantiacum and Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous.
International J. Microbial Resource Technol. ISSN 2278 – 3822
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
4. Challenges and scope
10.
Thus there is an urgent need for alternative colorants
that are natural, cost effective and easily degradable
and without production of recalcitrant intermediates
when they enter the ecosystem. There is an increasing
interest involving microorganisms as a possible
alternate source of colorants used in food industry. In
this direction, biotechnology may play a crucial role
for large fermentation of natural biocolorants.
11.
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