Chapter 10

Industrially Important Pigments

from Different Groups of Fungi

Ashok Kumar, Srishti Prajapati, Nikhil, Smriti Nandan,

and Trisha Guha Neogi

10.1 Introduction

The production of pigments from natural origins has become substantial across the
world because of the adverse outcomes of using synthetic colorants. Various plant
part materials such as roots, bark, leaves, berries, seeds, twigs, branches, tubers, and
nut hulls are capable of producing a wide range of colors with various moderations
that can be used for dyeing yarns and in textile industries. Also, when wreathed
properly, these natural dyes are fast, efficient, and resist fading from exposure to
light. Many companies have decided to utilize these natural pigments from plant
and animal sources. The use of these pigment products in the food industry, textile
industry, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics has increased exponentially.
The application of natural dyes is widely used as a colorant agent. Over the
decades, several active metabolites have been discovered from distinct natural
sources such as microorganisms, insects, animals, and higher plants. Because of
their chemo-organotrophic property, the microorganism is the most likely group
that generates metabolites possessing the readiest industrial application, and micro-
organisms also have a high growth rate, producing a large amount of biomass in a
short period of time (Dufosse 2006). Many synthetic dyes have been found lethal
and dangerous to human health. For reasons of safety, only limited dyestuffs have
been acceptable for use in the food industry in many nations. However, as compared
to microbial pigments, these additives have several drawbacks such as low water
solubility, instability, and unavailability part of the year for industrial applications
(Gunasekaran and Poorniammal 2008; Mendez et al. 2011; Yadav et al. 2017).
Pigments also are known as colorants that have water- and oil-insoluble natural
as well as synthetic compounds that divulge color to substances such as textiles,
paper, or plastics. Pigments change the color of reflected or transmitted light as the

A. Kumar (*) · S. Prajapati · Nikhil · S. Nandan · T. G. Neogi

Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding (Plant Biotechnology), Rajiv Gandhi South
Campus, Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur, India

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 285

A. N. Yadav et al. (eds.), Recent Advancement in White Biotechnology Through
Fungi, Fungal Biology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14846-1_10
286 A. Kumar et al.

result of wavelength selective absorption. Because pigments are insoluble in nature,

they are applied as finely ground solid particles mixed with a liquid and not as solu-
tions. They are not affected physically or chemically by the substrate in which they
are incorporated. A variety of fungi species including Aspergillus sydowii,
Aspergillus aureolas, Aspergillus keveii, Penicillium flavigenum, Lecanicillium
aphanocladii, Penicillium chermesinum, Epicoccum nigrum, and Fusarium spp.
produce various characteristic pigments (da Costa Souza et al. 2016).
Generally, dark brown or black pigments occur widely in fungi. Drechslera spp.
produces hydroxyanthraquinones [e.g., helminthosporin (maroon, brown), cate-
narin (red), cynodontin (bronze), and tritisporin (red-brown)] pigment molecules. In
some fungi, both hyphae and conidia are densely pigmented, as in the Dematiaceae
family (Alternaria, Curvularia, Drechslera) (Margalith 1992). Health conscious-
ness has prompted the choice of these natural colorants over synthetic colorants in
the foods, cosmetics, textiles, and pharma industries. The natural pigments may be
present in large quantity but only a few are available in sufficient quantities for
industrial production. Production of these natural pigments from microorganisms is
advantageous over other methods because microorganisms have a short life cycle
and multiply, which results in high productivity (Lauro 1991; Kim et al. 1999).
Natural colorant production from microorganisms has advantages compared
with their counterparts extracted from plants or animals because they do not exhibit
the problem of seasonal availability and are often more stable and soluble
(Gunasekaran and Poorniammal 2008). The synthesis of colorants by plant species
is slower than that by microorganisms and algae because the fermentation processes
are inherently faster and more productive than other chemical processes (Velmurugan
et al. 2010). Food industries from Europe and the US have already obtained natural
colorants from microorganisms because of their advantages such as stability, large-­
scale production, high growth rate, high throughput, and wide range of colors and
also their biological activities, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer
properties (Pangestuti and Kim 2011; Teixeira et al. 2012; Tuli et al. 2014). The
microorganisms produce a diversity of bio-compounds, such as carotenoids, mela-
nins, flavins, quinones, monascines, violaceins, phycocyanins, and indigo (Mapari
et al. 2009; Dufossé et al. 2005).
Among the microorganisms, fungi are essential as colorant producers.
Filamentous fungi have proved to be useful because of their ability to produce pri-
mary and secondary metabolites such as peptides, enzymes, organic acids, heterolo-
gous proteins, antibiotics, and pigments (Rana et al. 2018b; Suman et al. 2016;
Yadav 2018; Radzio and Kück 1997; Hajjaj et al. 1998). The successful industrial
production of β-carotene by Blakeslea trispora is the best example, whereas other
sources are also present, such as Mucor circinelloides (a zygomycete fungus) and
Phycomyces blakesleeanus (Mapari et al. 2006). Pigments such as cynodontin, hel-
minthosporin, catenarin, chrysophanol, tritisporin, and erythroglaucin are isolated
from the fungal species Eurotium spp., Fusarium spp., Curvularia lunata, and
Drechslera (Rana et al. 2018a; Yadav et al. 2018).
Various strains of Penicillium oxalicum produce an extracellular metabolite
anthraquinone, which is red. Some non-carotenoid pigments possess a broader
10 Industrially Important Pigments from Different Groups of Fungi 287

range of color than the limited color range of carotenoid. These pigments are solu-
ble in water and do not require any chemical modification, use of carriers, and sta-
bilizer during dispersion in foods. Extracellular red pigments are isolated in large
amounts from Penicillium marneffei, and one of these pigments was identified as
monascorubramine, the red pigment produced from Monascus (Mapari et al. 2005).
Microorganisms are noted as being a significant source of naturally occurring pig-
ments. Among all the microorganisms, fungi showed a wide range of fascinating
colors. However, until recently, several fungi have remained unexplored for color
production, possibly because of their association with aflatoxins, mycotoxins, and
other toxic compounds that are harmful for humans.
The increasing urge in society for natural ingredients has compelled biotech-
nologists to explore novel means and sources for the biotechnological synthesis of
food colorants. In this regard, exploring fungal chemical diversity is worthwhile for
the identification of novel pigments. The screening approach for water-soluble pig-
ments, which is partially based upon chemotaxonomy, would provide a base for the
construction of cell factories to produce natural pigments in the near future. If sub-
stantial toxicological testing is carried out, fungal pigments could be accepted for
current consumption as a food and textile colorant.
Extracts of Monascus purpureus have produced the pigments monascorubrin,
rubropunctatin, and citrinin as mycotoxins. The crude filtrates can be used in the
textile industry; however, additional pigment purification is required for food and
pharmaceutical applications (Lopes et al. 2013). Until now, only a few species were
described for pigment production because such pigments were used as a chemo-
taxonomic tool. The yellow pigments sorbicillin and xanthocillins isolated from the
species Penicillium chrysogenum were reported (Mapari et al. 2009), and chrys-
ogenin was also reported as a yellow pigment produced by this fungus (Asilonu
et al. 2000). Fusarium graminearum produces rubrofusarin and aurofusarin, a red-
dish pigment. This chapter covers different genera of fungi that produce color pig-
ments with various industrial applications using eco-friendly and cost-effective
technology.

10.2 Fungal Pigments

Pigments produced by fungi are the secondary metabolite molecules. These mole-
cules are used commercially on a large scale made possible in the same way as
antibiotics are mass produced from fungi by deep-tank fermentation. The produc-
tion of colors from fungal sources is done under controlled experimentation on a
mass-scale basis using a wide variety of substrates (Sudha et al. 2014). Using fila-
mentous fungi cultured on different agro-industrial by-products has proved to be an
alternative way to obtain pigments (Lopes et al. 2013). Fungi are an essential source
of pigment production because some fungi species are abundant in producing stable
colorants (Nagia and El-Mohamedy 2007). Some important genera including
Aspergillus, Penicillium, Epicoccum, Lecanicillium, and Fusarium spp. are useful
288 A. Kumar et al.

for producing various colors. Monascus purpureus, commonly known as red mold,
has been used for food and medicines (Wang and Lin 2007). The pigments of
Penicillium spp. have been studied extensively, and many yellow-­red compounds
based on the phenalenone structure have been reported (Bachmann et al. 1986)
(Fig. 10.1).
Some fungi produce pigments that belong to the aromatic polyketide groups,
such as melanins, quinines (Dufossé et al. 2005; Caro et al. 2012), anthraquinone,
flavins, ankaflavin, and naphthoquinone (Dufosse 2006). Fungi have a broad range
of biological activities of pharmaceutical properties and are considered to provide a
high benefit to humans (Zhang et al. 2004). The use of microbial pigments has ben-
efits including easy and fast growth in inexpensive culture media, different color
shades independent of weather conditions, and various industrial applications (Venil
and Lakshmanaperumalsamy 2009).
Because of the increasing costs of pollution by raw materials, and the complexity
of synthetic material and its products, natural compounds are becoming important.
Colorants occurring naturally have antimicrobial properties, are less allergenic, and
are very stable, so these are being used instead of synthetic agents (Mehrabian et al.
2000). Moreover, synthetic dyes have environmentally hazardous effects and thus
must be replaced by eco-friendly natural dyes (Sewekow 1988; Velmurugan et al.
2010). The ascomycetes fungi species possess an extraordinary color range of pig-
ments in the red and yellow spectra, and these fungal pigments are comparable to
existing natural food colorants as a new source for food coloring (Mapari et al.
2006). Many researchers have isolated different genera of fungi to study the produc-
tion of various pigments (Table 10.1).
During the growth period, fungi such as Trichoderma, Fusarium, Penicillium,
and Aspergillus produce pigments in the form of intermediate metabolites (Atalla
et al. 2011). Secondary metabolites produced by fungal pigments can be classified

Fig. 10.1 Color of Monascus purpureus and Penicillium purpurogenum on agar plates
10 Industrially Important Pigments from Different Groups of Fungi 289

Table 10.1 Fungi producing various types of pigments

Fungi Pigments References
Epicoccum nigrum Carotenoids Gribanovski-Sassu and
Foppen (1967)
Epicoccum nigrum Flavonoids Soptica and Bahrim (2005)
Epicoccum nigrum Polyketides Shu et al. (1997)
Penicillium chermesinum Azaphilones Huang et al. (2011)
Penicillium flavigenum Anthraquinones and yellow Frisvad and Samson
polyketides (2004)
Fusarium moniliforme Anthraquinones Premalatha et al. (2012)
Fusarium verticillioides Anthraquinones Boonyapranai et al. (2008)
Lecanicillium aphanocladii Mycotoxin Souza et al. (2016)
(CML2970)
Epicoccum nigrum Orevactaene Souza et al. (2016)
(CML2971)
Penicillium flavigenum Dihydrotichodimerol Souza et al. (2016)
(CML2965)
Talaromyces amestolkiae Azaphilone Yilmaz et al. (2012)
Fusarium graminearum Diacetoxyscirpenol, Fusarenone X Nielsen and Smedsgaard
and neosolaniol (2003)
Monascus purpureus Monascorubrin and Rubropunctatin Rasmussen et al. (2011)
Neurospora crassa Neurosporaxanthin Aasen and Jensen (1965)
Neurospora sitophila Neurosporaxanthin Luque et al. (2012)
Neurospora intermedia Mixture of carotenoids Khiabani et al. (2011)
(PTCC 5291)
Cordyceps unilateralis Naphtoquinone Unagul et al. (2005)
Ashbya gossypi Riboflavin Santos et al. (2005)
Monascus spp. Rubropunctatin Blanc et al. (1994)
Rhodotorula spp. Torularhodin Sakaki et al. (2000)
Blakeslea trispora β-Carotene Lampila et al. (1985)
Fusarium sporotrichioides β-Carotene Jones et al. (2004)
Auricularia auricula Melanin Sun et al. (2016)
Talaromyces verruculosus Red pigment Chadni et al. (2017)
Stemphylium lycopersici Anthraquinone Li et al. (2017)
Fusarium sp. JN158 Benzoquinone Zheng et al. (2017)
Monascus anka GIM 3.592 Azaphilone Chen et al. (2015)
Fusarium fujikuroi Bikaverin Lale and Gadre (2016)
Chlorociboria aeruginosa Quinones Hinsch et al. (2015)
Grifola frondosa β-Carotene Smith et al. (2015)
Fusarium moniliforme Naphtoquinone Pradeep and Pradeep
(2013)
Monascus purpureus Azaphilone Seyedin et al. (2015)
290 A. Kumar et al.

chemically as carotenoids and polyketides, in which polyketides are composed of

tetraketides and octoketides with eight C2 units that contribute to the polyketide
chain. Anthraquinone, hydroxyanthraquinones, naphthoquinone, and azaphilone
represent classes possessing an array in color, and this rational approach is signifi-
cantly safe for fungal cell factories of polyketide pigments for other industrially
important uses(Mapari et al. 2009, 2010).
The class of quinones belonging to the anthraquinone family consists of several
hundred compounds that vary in the nature and position of substituent groups (Liu
et al. 2008). Anthraquinone has had a significant role in dyestuff industries for a
long time. Several fungi including Trichoderma, Aspergillus, and Fusarium are
used to isolate anthraquinone compounds through biotechnological techniques,
most of which produce a mixture of anthraquinone pigments (Hobson and Wales
1998; Durán et al. 2002). Hydroxyanthraquinone is derived from anthraquinone
when one hydrogen atom replaced by a hydroxyl group. Some filamentous fungi
species can produce hydroxyanthraquinone compounds by the polyketide pathway
for use as food colorants and dyestuffs (Caro et al. 2012).
Napthoquinones are significant in the preparation of dyes, with a full color range
between orange, yellow, and brown. The fungal pigment naphthoquinones have a
wide range of biological activities and occur extensively in species of Fusarium
(Mendentsev and Akimenko 1998; Babula et al. 2009). Azaphilones, another group
of fungal metabolites that is produced by the genus Monascus, have similar molecu-
lar structures as well as similar chemical properties (Dufosse 2009). Monascus
fungi are well known to produce six primary pigments of polyketide origin, classi-
fied into three groups based on color: yellow, monascin and ankaflavin; orange,
monascorubrin and rubropunctatin; and red, monascorubramine and rubropun-
tamine (Sweeny et al. 1981) (Fig. 10.2). Monascus pigments are sensitive to heat,
fade with exposure to light, are not stable at pH ranging from 2 to 10, and have low
water solubility. Their stability is affected by various factors including acidity, tem-
perature, light, oxygen, water activity, and time. When these pigments react with
amino group-containing compounds in the medium such as protein, amino acids,
and nucleic acids, they convert into water-soluble pigments (Dufosse 2009). The
fungal species Epicoccum nigrum has been identified showing the production of
various secondary metabolites including pigments such as carotenoids (Gribanovski-­
Sassu and Foppen 1967), flavonoids (Soptica and Bahrim 2005), and polyketides
(Shu et al. 1997), of red, orange, and yellow hues.
Consequently, Epicoccum nigrum should be considered as a potential source of
pigments (Mapari et al. 2008). Penicillium chermesinum (ZH4-E2), isolated from
mangroves, is reported as a producer of new azaphilones (chermesinones).
Penicillium flavigenum belongs to the section chrysogena, known to have strains
capable of producing anthraquinones and other yellow polyketides (Frisvad and
Samson 2004). Moreover, the two species P. chrysogenum and P. flavigenum are
reported to produce the antibiotic xanthocillin (Frisvad and Samson 2004). Some
species of Aspergillus, such as A. glaucus, A. cristatus, and A. repens, have been
reported as possible sources of pigments.
10 Industrially Important Pigments from Different Groups of Fungi 291

Fig. 10.2 Monascus spp. produces six major pigments with different colors

Yellow and red hydroxyanthraquinoid pigments such as emodin and physicion

(yellow), questin and erythroglaucin (yellow to orange-brown), and catenarin and
rubrocistin (red) are reported (Caro et al. 2012). Extract of Lecanicillium aphano-
cladii (CML2970) produced the pigment oosporein (2,5-dihydroxybenzoquinone),
which has mycotoxin properties when extracted initially from the basidiomycete
Oospora colorans (Kogl and Van Wessem 1944). Oosporein has also been found in
other fungi such as Chaetomium cupreum, Verticillium palliate, Beauveria spp., and
Chaetomium trilaterale (Luo et al. 2015; Mao et al. 2010; Nagaoka et al. 2004).
Apart from that, this compound has significant biological activities including inhi-
bition of growth in plants and phytotoxic effects (Cole et al. 1974). Also, oosporein
has shown antifungal activity against Phytophthora infestans (Nagaoka et al. 2004).
Pythium ultimum, Botrytis cinerea, and Rhizoctonia solani have the potential to
inhibit the proliferation of tumor cell lines (Mao et al. 2010).

10.3 Industrial Application of Fungal Pigment

The increasing urge in society for natural ingredients has compelled biotechnolo-
gists to explore novel means and sources for the synthesis of food colorants. For
antioxidant and antimicrobial products, the food industry is facing a severe
292 A. Kumar et al.

challenge, and these products are considered as beneficiary to human health, which
reduces the consumption of synthetic chemical preservatives (Vendruscolo et al.
2013). A variety of fungi species obtained from soil niches produces natural colo-
rants with various applications in industry. These colorants are used as additives,
color intensifiers, and antioxidants in the food industry and as textile dyes in the
textile industry. Moreover, anthraquinones are also used in manufacturing cloth that
contains antimicrobial properties.
Pigments have a wide range of colors and some are water soluble. These proper-
ties are responsible for the production, isolation, and characterization of many com-
pounds (Durán et al. 2002). At present, the role and use of these pigments are
increasing dramatically. It would be hard to find any industry wherein the use of
these pigments does not play any significant role. To discover those pigments that
have the caliber for long-lasting utilization as well as being environmentally safe is
a big challenge for the food industry. Artists’ colors are pigments that are spread on
a surface suspended in a suitable medium, such as oil. When the pigments exist in
the form of dispersions, this could result in the formation of mass coloration for
textile fibers, polymers, and rubber.
Monascus was first discovered and used as a natural food colorant in Chinese
medicine in the Asian region, although the first classification of Monascus strains
was performed in other countries (Hamano and Kilikian 2006; Srianta et al. 2014).
Monascus purpureus produces a red pigment that shows antimicrobial activity
whereas the extract of M. purpureus was found to be 81% as effective compared
with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Kumar et al. 2012). AUMC 5705, a strain of
Monascus, manifested a high production of butyric acid, pyran, and fatty acids hav-
ing anticancer activity, whereas AUMC 4066 has a significant role in the food, phar-
maceutical, and other industries (Moharram et al. 2012). The presence of mycotoxins,
for example, citrinin, in some species, has certainly limited the utilization of
Monascus in food by safety concerns. Meanwhile, during the past 20 years, research-
ers have demonstrated several molecular pathways and have been trying to inhibit
the effect and production of citrinin, thus developing strains incapable of co-­
producing the citrinin (Wang et al. 2004; Pisareva et al. 2005; Xu et al. 2009).
The biosynthesis of polyketides in several fungi has not been studied in detail at
a genetic level. There is still controversy, and the reasons behind those genes respon-
sible for pigment production in Monascus are still unclear. However, only a few
genes have been reported, such as the MpigE gene, in Monascus when it was ana-
lyzed for pigment biosynthesis. The complementation, disruption, and overexpres-
sion of the MpigE gene had specific effects on pigment biosynthesis, whereas in a
fermentation medium the citrinin effects fall exponentially with overexpression of
MpigE (Liu et al. 2014).
Monascus spp. have been used as food and medicine for more than 1000 years
(Wang and Lin 2007). In China, these fungi have been used for centuries to enhance
the color and flavor of foods and have also been used medicinally for several dis-
eases related to vascular and digestive health. Red yeast rice, which has cholesterol-­
lowering properties, is broadly used as a food supplement in Western countries. Red
yeast rice attains the property of lowering cholesterol from the inhibitor monacolin
10 Industrially Important Pigments from Different Groups of Fungi 293

K. In the fungus Monascus, ankaflavine and monascine are yellow pigments, rubro-
punctatine and monascorubrine are orange, monascorubramin is red, and rubro-
punctamine and monascorubramine are purple pigments (Blanc et al. 1994).
Sclerotiorin, an aldose reductase inhibitor having a secondary metabolite iso-
lated from Penicillium sclerotiorum, is used in several pharmaceutical applications.
Large-scale production in liquid culture of Penicillium sclerotiorum isolated from
Serrado Cipo National Park soil led to the isolation of pencolide, sclerotiorin, and
isochromophilone. Some of these compounds, such as pencolide and sclerotiorin,
demonstrated antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria (Salmonella
typhimurium, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus), gram-negative bac-
teria (Escherichia coli), and yeast (Candida albicans). Antibacterial activity against
S. aureus is shown by isochromophilone (Lucas et al. 2007). Table 10.2 lists fungi
that produce various colors, with their pigments, molecular formula, and
applications.
Pigments have all-around features to give credence to their usefulness in a vari-
ety of mediums. Some pigments, such as carotenoids and betanins, contain liable
hydrogen that shows decolorization as the result of oxidation, which results in their
insensitivity to light, heat, and oxygen. During storage and processing, such proper-
ties can reduce the robustness of color additives (Mapari et al. 2005). These pig-
ments are produced mainly in the cell-bounded state, although some methods have
been patented to make water-soluble pigments. In monascorubrine or rubropuncta-
tine, the replaceable oxygen is substituted by the nitrogen of the amino group of
various compounds such as amino acids, peptides, and proteins, with the color
change from orange to purple as the basic principle.
Pigment stability is affected by acidity, temperature, light, oxygen, water activ-
ity, and time. With the addition of these pigments, sausages or canned pate remained
stable for 3 months of storage at 4 °C, and their stability ranged from 92% C to 98%
C. (Fabre et al. 1993). Compounds such as anthraquinone, isolated from Fusarium
oxysporum, are used as natural dyes in dying wool (Nagia and El-Mohamedy 2007).
Moreover, the refined and purified form of pigment isolated from Penicillium pur-
purogenum can be used as a natural dye for cotton fabrics and also has antimicrobial
activity with good scope for future industries (Velmurugan et al. 2009). These pig-
ments are also used for medicinal purposes in textiles because of the antibacterial
properties (Poorniammal et al. 2013). Fungi are the most ideal and versatile model
organisms for research on industrial fermentation as well as natural phenomena
(Schuster and Schmoll 2012).

10.4 Conclusion and Future Prospects

The indiscriminate use of synthetic dyes for coloration has created harmful effects
on living organisms, including human beings, and also caused environmental pollu-
tion. Thus, there is a crucial need to identify natural pigment-producing sources for
safe colorants. Fungi may have potential in the production of pigments to be used
Table 10.2 Natural occurrence of fungal pigments from soil and their suggested applications
294

Molecular
Fungi Colors Pigments formula Applications References
Fusarium oxysporum Pink/violet Anthraquinone C14H8O2 Textile dyeing Gessler et al. (2013)
Antibacterial activity
Aspergillus niger Black Aspergillin C24H35NO4 Antimicrobial activity Ray and Eakin (1975)
Aspergillus versicolor Yellow Asperversin C47H58O10 Antifungal activity Miao et al. (2012)
Blakeslea trispora Cream red β-Carotene C40H56 Coloring agent use in food and textile European commission (2000)
industry
Candida famata Yellow Riboflavin C17H20N4O6 Baby foods, breakfast cereals, fruit Stahmann et al. (2000)
drinks
Eurotium spp. Yellow Isoquinoline C9H7N Antifungal activity Torres et al. (2016)
Fusarium verticillioides Yellow Naphthoquinone C10H6O2 Dyeing, antibacterial activity Boonyapranai et al. (2008)
Fusarium sporotrichioides Red Lycopene C40H56 Coloring agent Velmurugan et al. (2009)
Monascus spp. Yellow Monascin C21H26O5 Food colorant Mostafa and Abbady (2014)
Pharmaceuticals
Monascus spp. Orange Monascorubrin C23H26O5 Antibacterial Moharram et al. (2012)
Anticancer activity
Neurospora intermedia Yellow-­ β-Carotene C40H56 Various industrial and pharmaceuticals Singgih et al. (2005)
orange applications
Neurospora sitophila Orange Neurosporaxanthin C5H4N4O2 Antioxidants Díaz-Sánchez et al. (2011)
Penicillium purpurogenum Yellow to Mitorubrin C21H18O7 Antibacterial Martinkova et al. (1995)
orange
Cordyceps unilateralis Deep Naphtoquinone C10H6O2 Activity on various biological Unagul et al. (2005)
blood-red oxidative process
Penicillium flavigenum Yellow Anthraquinones C14H8O2 Antioxidants Frisvad and Samson (2004)
Penicillium herquei Yellow Atronenetin _ Food additive Takahashi and Carvalho
Antioxidant (2010)
A. Kumar et al.
 Molecular
Fungi Colors Pigments formula Applications References
Aspergillus sclerotiorum Yellow Neoaspergillic C12H20N2O2 Antibacterial activity Micetich and Macdonald
acid (1965)
Penicillium oxalicum Red Anthraquinone C14H8O2 Anticancer effect in food and Dufosse (2006)
pharmaceuticals
Textile dyeing
Penicillium sclerotiorum Yellow to Pencolide C9H9NO4 Antibacterial activity Brikinshaw et al. (1963)
orange
Taloromyces astroroseus Yellow-red Azaphilone C21H22O7 Food colorants, cosmetics Frisvad et al. (2013)
Epicoccum nigrum Orange Orevactaene C34 H44O10 Antioxidant Souza et al. (2016)
(CML2971
E. nigrum Red Carotenoid C15H10O2 Antioxidants, food coloration Gribanovski-Sassu and
Inhibits HIV-1 replication Foppen (1967)
Trichoderma viride Yellow Viridin C20H16O6 Textile dyeing Chitale et al. (2012)
Green Antifungal activity
Food industry
Trichoderma virens Yellow Viridol C20H18O6 Textile dyeing Mukherjee and Kenerley
Virone C22H24O4 Antifungal (2010)
Lecanicillium aphanocladii Red Oosporein C14H10O8 Antifungal activity Zare and Gams (2001)
Auricularia auricular Dark tones Melanin C18H10N2O4 Foods, cosmetics, medicine Sun et al. (2016)
Monascus purpureus Yellow, β-Carotene C40H56 Antioxidant, medicine Smith et al. (2015)
orange
10 Industrially Important Pigments from Different Groups of Fungi

Chlorociboria aeruginosa Green Quinones C6H4O2 Textile Weber et al. (2014)

Scytalidium Yellow Quinones C6H4O2 Textile Weber et al. (2014)
ganodermophthorum
Monascus ruber Red Azaphilone C21H22O7 Foods Vendruscolo et al. (2013)
Curvularia lunata Brown Anthraquinones C14H8O2 Textile Sharma et al. (2012)
Aspergillus versicolor – Asperversin C24H32O8 Antifungal agent Miao et al. (2012)
295
296 A. Kumar et al.

for industrial and biotechnological applications. Production of fungal pigments pro-

vides natural coloration without creating harmful effects on entering the environ-
ment, a safer alternative use to synthetic colorants. Different genera of fungi produce
a variety of pigments including carotenoids, flavonoids, polyketides, azaphilones,
anthraquinones, mycotoxin, and orevactaene for important uses in antimicrobials,
food colorants, textile dyeing, anticancer activities, food additives, antioxidants,
and pharmaceuticals. The natural dyes are easily degradable and also cause no det-
rimental environmental effects. With the help of biotechnological tools, current
advances in the genomic knowledge of fungal species can lead to developing new
antifungal drug targets and desired pigments of pharmaceutical importance. The
design and development of new antifungal compounds include such benefits for
human health as polyketides and statins with fewer side effects. Generally, the criti-
cal use of soil filamentous fungi provides an industrially important source of bio-
mass and various valuable products such as pigments, enzymes, and organic acids.
Several studies have focused on factors that stimulate pigment production in fila-
mentous and soil fungi. However, these studies have considered optimization of
pigment production at a larger scale and potential regulation of different colors of
dyes. Thus, substrate, bioreactor design, and cultivation conditions need to be devel-
oped and also optimized to control the process for pigments and other desired
products.

Acknowledgments The authors are very grateful to Professor Saket Kushwaha, Vice Chancellor,
Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, and Arunachal Pradesh, formerly Professor In-Charge, Rajiv
Gandhi South Campus, Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India, for all neces-
sary facilities, valuable suggestions, and cooperation during the course of this investigation.

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