The use of Monascus has a history of over 1 000 years in China and it is commonly used for making red yeast rice and fermented bean curd. Its metabolites demonstrate broad application potential in the fields of food, health products and medicine. This review summarizes recent advances in research on the metabolites of Monascus in terms of their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, blood glucose-lowering, and blood pressure-lowering effects. Studies indicate that Monascus metabolites contain various functional components, such as Monascus pigments, monacolin K and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which exhibit their biological activities through multiple mechanisms. Some Monascus pigments have antibacterial properties, monacolin K is an ideal lipid-lowering agent, and GABA shows a significant blood pressure-lowering effect. Additionally, Monascus metabolites demonstrate good anti-inflammatory activity and blood glucose-lowering effects, and show significant anti-inflammatory effects in inflammation models. In conclusion, Monascus metabolites have broad application prospects, but further research is needed to elucidate the mechanism of their health benefits. This review will promote their development and application in the food, health and medical fields.

In this research, the effect of different secondary homogenization pressures on the quality of ultra-high temperature instantaneous sterilized (UHT) whipped cream was analyzed. The results showed that secondary homogenization of whipped cream at pressures ranging from 4 to 8 MPa shifted the size distribution of the emulsion droplets toward smaller values, and increased the apparent viscosity, which improved the stability of the emulsion. However, too high homogenization pressure led to fat aggregation within the emulsion droplets, affecting the apparent viscosity and foam stability of whipped cream. With an increase in secondary homogenization pressure, whipping time of whipped cream was prolonged, whipping rate, foam stability and hardness was decreased, and even at 12 MPa, it could not be whipped into shape. Therefore, it is recommended that the secondary homogenizing pressure be controlled in the range of 4 to 6 MPa.

Mold-ripened cheese was prepared using a commercial starter culture combined with Monascus, and its physicochemical properties, free amino acids, microstructure and volatile flavor substances were evaluated. The results showed that the yield of cheese was 16.55%, and the protein, fat, calcium, water, and salt contents of the cheese were 18.03%, 33.40%, 376.67 mg/100 g, 44.47%, and 863.67 mg/100 g, respectively. During the ripening process, pH value first decreased, then increased and finally leveled off. The microstructure indicated that Monascus had a significant effect on the internal structure of mature cheese. A total of 23 free amino acids and 32 volatile compounds were identified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). At the end of the ripening period (21 days), the content of free amino acids in mold-ripened cheese was increased by an average of 58.8 times over the beginning of ripening, and the types and contents of volatile compounds also changed significantly.

Non-thermal processing technology has been widely used in the food processing industry. Dense phase carbon dioxide (DPCD), an emerging non-thermal processing technology, has become the focus of food processing technology researchers worldwide due to its low energy consumption, non-toxicity and harmlessness, and small impact on food quality. As an important component of food, protein directly affects the flavor, texture and nutrition of food. An overview of DPCD processing technology is presented in this article. Moreover, it summarizes the current state of the art in understanding the effect of DPCD on protein structure and processing characteristics, and discusses future prospects for this processing technology. Hopefully, this review will provide new ideas for researchers working on the application of non-thermal processing technologies in food processing.

The optimization of medium components and culture conditions for improved spore production of Monascus purpureus M-4 in submerge culture was performed using a combination of one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method and response surface methodology (RSM). The OFAT results showed that potato extract powder and glucose were the optimal nitrogen and carbon source, respectively and that their optimal concentrations were 0.4 and 2.0 g/100 mL, respectively. The optimal culture conditions that provided the maximum number of spores were as follows: initial medium pH 6.72 (natural pH), medium volume in a 500-mL triangular flask 120 mL, concentration of added CaCO3 2.0 g/100 mL, number of passages 2, and culture time 72 h. Potato extract powder and glucose concentration as well as culture time were identified as main variables that influence spore production and their optimal levels were determined to be respectively 0.38 g/100 mL, 2.2 g/100 mL and 6.5 d using RSM. The highest spore number of (7.47 ± 0.15) × 106 CFU/mL was experimentally obtained under the optimized conditions, which was close to the predicted value (7.53 ± 0.31) × 106 CFU/mL. The average error between the predicted and experimental values was 0.79%. A 31.13-fold increase in spore number was achieved by the optimization. Besides, the spore-producing ability per unit volume of strain M-4 was greatly improved.

This work aimed to study the effect of rice oil addition on rheological properties of spread processed cheese. Spread processed cheeses were prepared from Cheddar cheese with different amounts of rice oil added, and their storage modulus (G’) and the loss modulus (G”) were measured at different oscillation frequencies. The critical temperatures (melting temperature) for viscoelasticity changes of the processed cheeses were observed and compared. The results showed that G’ and G” decreased with rice oil addition, and so did melting temperature. The greatest decrease in melting temperature (2.45 ℃) was observed with the addition of 25% or 50% rice oil. This led us to conclude that the addition of rice oil to spread processed cheese should be controlled at less than 50%.