Exploratory study of pigment extraction from Curcuma longa L. by solid-state fermentation using five fungal strains

Abstract

Curcuma longa L. is an aromatic spice native from Southeast Asia, being curcumin its main phytochemical, which has been extracted by various methods (e.g. maceration, Soxhlet, ultrasound, microwave etc.). C. longa L. rhizome has applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The objective of the present work was to explore the extraction of pigments from turmeric assisted by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using fungal strains. Three grams of dry material with 70% humidity of the rhizome were used as a support supplemented with Czapek-Dox medium for the growth of Aspergillus niger GH1 and PSH, Aspergillus oryzae DIA-FM, Aspergillus sp. ITV, and Aspergillus terreus ITV. The fermentation conditions were 25 °C for 240 h, measuring the radial growth every 24 h and quantifying the curcumin content at the end of the fermentation. The results obtained showed the growth capacity of each strain on the plant material. A. niger GH1 and PSH had the highest growth rate (0.039 h-1 and 0.036 h-1, respectively) as well as the greatest capacity to release curcumin (58.42 and 58.21 mg/g). The SSF is a feasible method for the extraction of curcumin using Aspergilli strains.