الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Color is one of the first sensory attributes used to choose and buy food because it influences sensation of other characteristics such as aroma, taste and texture. Color carries information associated with the category of products and specific brands, making the visual suggestion powerful to provide meaning, contrast or novelty in packages. In response to the growing consumer perception that natural dyes are safer, food manufacturers have sought to use more natural and less synthetic dyes, also because the warning that there are natural dyes is mandatory in the main food packaging panel, which contributes to negative product advertising. A good alternative for the food industry is the use of natural pigments produced by microorganisms, also called bio-pigments. The production of pigments by fermentation has a number of advantages: lower cost, easier extraction, higher yields, no shortage of raw materials and no seasonal variations. Among the various pigmentproducing microorganisms, the genus of Monascus fungi stands out. This filamentous fungus has been widely used in the production of fermented foods, such as ”Chinese red rice”, in Asian countries. Monascus natural fermented pigments have high economic value around the world and attracted worldwide attention as a coloring agent; they have many advantages such as easily production on non expensive substrates, good solubility in water and ethanol, numerous bioactive metabolites, and completely safe when produced under specific conditions. This study was aimed to:- 1- Isolation of strains which are capable to produce red pigments from Egyptian soil. 2- Production of the red pigments from the isolated strains and investigate optimization of the red pigments. 3- Identification and evaluation of isolated strains from Egyptian soil and its red pigment. 4- Production and optimization of Monascus ruber AUMC245 pigments from submerged fermentation by studying the effect of environmental and nutritional conditions on pigments production. 5- Production and optimization of Monascus ruber AUMC245 pigments from solid state fermentation by studying the effect of environmental and nutritional conditions on pigments production using agricultural by product (broken rice). 6- Safety evaluation of produced pigments by using oral doses of different Monascus ruber AUMC245 pigment concentrations on mice then observe toxicity signs and mortality, serum analysis and organs weight. 7- Compare between the dosing Monascus natural pigment and the dosing of an artificial colorant (Carmoisine) on mice. 8- Detection of Citrinin (mycotoxin) by TLC analysis and making sure that the Monascus ruber AUMC245 pigments are safe to use as food colorants. 9- Separation of Monascus pigments and evaluation these pigments against technological treatments. 10- Application of the separated pigments as food colorants in different food products. 11- Studying the sensory evaluation of the food products which containing Monascus pigments. The obtained results could be summarized as the following: 1- After isolation procedure, we obtained an Egyptian strain which producing a red pigment from Egyptian soil. 2- After pigment production optimization procedures of the strain isolated from Egyptian environment, we could not obtain the highest production of pigment (it was not economic production). 3- After isolated strain identification procedures, it was Fusarium verticillioides. Unfortunately, this strain is a pathogen and produces several toxic metabolisms. Also, it has been linked to increased incidence of human oesophageal cancer and equine leukoencephalomalacia and porcine pulmonary oedema. So it will be difficult to use it as a safe pigment in food products. 4- As for Monascus ruber AUMC 245, Production and optimization of Monascus ruber AUMC245 pigments produced by submerged culture: from studying factors affecting pigments production by Monascus ruber AUMC245, it could be concluded that pigments could be optimized as follows: - The optimum incubation temperature for maximum pigments production by Monascus ruber AUMC245 was 30 °C - The optimum incubation period for Monascus ruber AUMC245 pigments production was 14 day - The optimum pH value for Monascus ruber AUMC245 pigments production was 6.5 - Rice powder with concentration of 5% was the best carbon source which produces the highest pigments production. - Peptone was the best nitrogen source which gave highest pigments production.