Effect of Fish Hydrolysate and Sodium Chloride on the Colour of Quinoa Flour Fermented by <i>Monascus purpureus</i>

Abstract

Monascus purpureus is a red pigment-producing fungus. In the present study, the effect of fish hydrolysate and sodium chloride on the colour of quinoa flour fermented with M. purpureus was analysed. The colour of each sample was evaluated in CIELAB space (L*, a*, b*), in addition to the C:N ratio. The minimum fermentation time was eight days and the values of L* (44.66 ± 0.532), a* (20.27 ± 0.323), b*(17.89 ± 1.342) and a C:N ratio of 11.05 ± 0.240 were obtained. Therefore, there is an effect of supplementation on increasing the red colour of the meal. This work opened up the possibility that red quinoa flour could be used as a raw material in the production of other food products.

Keywords

• nitrogen source
• salts
• novel foods