Red mold rice (RMR) is a traditional Chinese medicine prepared using Monascus fermentation. Monascus ruber ( pilosus) and Monascus purpureus have a long history of use as food and medicine. As an economically important starter culture, the relationship between the taxonomy of Monascus and production capabilities of secondary metabolites is crucial for the Monascus food industry. In this study, monacolin K, monascin, ankaflavin, and citrinin production by M. purpureus and M. ruber were genomically and chemically investigated. Our findings suggest that M. purpureus can produce monascin and ankaflavin in a correlated manner, whereas M. ruber produces monascin with minimum ankaflavin. M. purpureus is capable of producing citrinin; however, it is unlikely able to produce monacolin K. In contrast, M. ruber produces monacolin K, but not citrinin. We suggest that the current monacolin K content-related regulation of Monascus food should be revised, and labeling of Monascus species should be considered.

中文翻译：

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研究紫红曲霉和红曲霉 (Monascus pilosus) 的莫纳可林 K、黄色素和桔霉素生产能力。

红霉米（RMR）是一种利用红曲发酵制备的中药。红曲霉 ( pilosus ) 和红曲霉 (Monascus purpureus) 作为食品和药物使用已有很长的历史。作为经济上重要的发酵剂培养物，红曲病的分类学与次级代谢产物的生产能力之间的关系对于红曲病食品工业至关重要。在这项研究中，对 M. purpureus 和 M. ruber 产生的莫纳可林 K、红曲霉素、ankaflavin 和桔霉素进行了基因组和化学研究。我们的研究结果表明，M. purpureus 可以以相关方式产生红曲霉菌素和 ankaflavin，而 M. ruber 产生红曲霉菌素和 ankaflavin 最少。M. purpureus 能够产生桔霉素；然而，它不太可能产生莫纳可林 K。相比之下，M. ruber 产生莫纳可林 K，但不产生桔霉素。