Studies On The Characteristic Constituent Of Red Yeast Rice In Fujian Province And Health Care Effect

When used as a dietary supplement to achieve and maintain healthy cholesterol levels, Chinese red yeast rice has significant potential to reduce health care costs and contribute to public health by reducing heart disease risk in individuals with moderate elevations of circulating cholesterol levels. Red yeast rice is typical product in Mingbei area of Fujian province, six products from different area of Fujian province were measured,using high-performance chromatography(HPLC) with photodiode array detector(PDA) and tandem mass spectrometry(MS) and the results show that the contents of monacolin K in these products were considerably different, and more than the other product1. IntroductionRed yeast rice, a traditional Chinese medicine and food known for centuries to Improve blood circulation and maintain taste and color in fish and meat. Preparation of red yeast rice following ancient methods by fermenting the fungal strain Monascus purpureus Went on moist and sterile rice. The medicinal properties of red yeast rice were described by pharmacologists of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as cited by Ma et al.. It is concluded from the present evidence that Red yeast rice possess opportunities for development as new functional foods. Red yeast rice ,or Hongqu in Chinese, is typical product in Mingbei area of Fujian province, most well known for product from Gutiang. From ancient time to now, method of production overall country concluding Taiwang, Okinawa have been origining from Gutiang and Pinnan county of Fujian province. The modern research has revealed that monacolin K has been proved to be characteristic constituent of red yeast rice. In this report, monacolin K was identified in red yeast rice of Fujian province,using high-performance liqid chromatography with photodiode array detector and tandem mass spectrometry. All of these materials including raw material powder and finished products available from different area of Fujian province were quantified and the contents of monacolin K were calculated with reference of monacolin K commercially available as the standard.2. Experimental2.1 Chemicals, reagents and materialsMethanol, HPLC grade; de-ionized water was obtained with an in-house Milli-Q water system (Millipore Inc., U.S.A). Monacolin K standard was ordered from Sigma (MO, U.S.A), Six batches of red yeast rice powder were kindly provided by a health food company in Fuzhou, China.2.2EquipmentLiquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC/PDA/MS) were carried out using a system equipped with Survyor LC system(Thermo Finnigan.San.Jose,USA) including quaternary pump, on-line degasser, column heater compart, autosampler and photodiode array detector, and a LCQ DECA XP MAX mass spectrometer (Thermo Finnigan, San Jose,USA) that consists of an ESI interface and an ion trap mass analyzer. The software for the control of the equipment, and the acquired and treatment of data is Xcalibur 1.3 workstation.