Increasing utilization of artificial chemical dyes as coloring agent and their associated detrimental effects on human health have instigated the search for novel natural pigments for applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. A wide range of advancements have been recorded for utilization of naturally extracted pigments, owing to their assurance in affirmative health attentiveness in the past few decades. Therefore, it is essential to investigate various potential natural resources such as plants and microbes from where food-grade colorants can be obtained. Several drawbacks such as low water solubility, instability to light, heat, or adverse pH are associated with natural pigments extracted from plants. On the contrary, microbial pigments having higher stability and productivity are considered a potential alternative to synthetic dyes. Prodigiosin is a linear tripyrrole natural red pigment obtained from Serratia marcescens which is produced as a secondary metabolite. Prodigiosin and their derivatives act as proapoptotic agents against diverse cancer cell lines and also play a vital role in numerous cellular targets, including multi-drug resistance cells with reduced or no reported adverse side effects. Owing to its high potential in various sectors, there is an urgent need to explore and exploit the biosynthesis of prodigiosin using various biotechnological approaches. Furthermore, multifarious aspects in commercial-scale production of prodigiosin along with its contemporary utilization have been critically assessed in this article.

越来越多地使用人造化学染料作为着色剂及其相关的对人体健康的有害影响，促使人们寻求在食品和制药行业中应用的新型天然色素。由于天然色素在过去几十年中对健康肯定的保证，因此在利用天然色素方面已取得了广泛的进步。因此，有必要研究各种潜在的自然资源，例如可以从中获得食品级着色剂的植物和微生物。从植物中提取的天然色素有几个缺点，如水溶性低，对光，热的不稳定性或不利的pH值。反之，具有较高稳定性和生产率的微生物颜料被认为是合成染料的潜在替代品。Prodigiosin是一种线型三吡咯天然红色素，得自粘质沙雷氏菌（Serratia marcescens），是次生代谢产物。Prodigiosin及其衍生物可作为针对多种癌细胞系的促凋亡剂，并且在众多细胞靶标中也起着至关重要的作用，包括具有减少的不良副作用或未报告不良副作用的多重耐药性细胞。由于其在各个领域的巨大潜力，迫切需要使用各种生物技术方法来探索和开发exploit虫素的生物合成。此外，在本文中，已经对prodigiosin的商业规模生产及其当代用途进行了广泛评估。