Biological Activity and Production of Monascus Metabolites

Monascus fermented products are conventional food colorant and seasoning in many Asian countries. In recent years, they were found to ameliorate several civilization diseases including hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension. Therefore, Monascus related products are popular on the market and are vastly consumed as a dietary supplement. Monacolin K is one of its bioactive metabolites and has been approved as a clinical prescription named Lovastatin. Monascus can be a potential source of various bioactive compounds. In this chapter, we summarize these bio-functional metabolites and also review the process and factors controlling the production of Monascus related products.