Angkak (red mold rice, red yeast rice, Chinese red rice) is a traditional Chinese medicine produced by
solid-state fermentation of cooked non-glutinous rice with Monascus species. The secondary metabolite of
Monascus species, monacolin K /lovastatin, has been proven to lower blood lipid levels. In this study, a coculture
of Monascus purpureus MTCC 369 and Monascus ruber MTCC 1880 was used for angkak
production. Four medium parameters screened by Plackett-Burman design were optimized by response
surface methodology for highest lovastatin production in angkak during solid-state fermentation by the coculture.
Maximum lovastatin production of 2.84 mg g-1 was predicted in solid medium containing 20 g rice
and 40 ml liquid nutrients medium (malt extract 9.68 g l-1, dextrose 38.90 g l-1, MnSO4.H2O 1.96 g l-1, and
MgSO4.7H2O 0.730 g l-1) by point prediction tool of Design Expert 7.1 software (Statease Inc. USA).
