Monascus is mainly used to promote digestion and blood circulation, strengthen spleen and stomach. Has the effects of lowering blood pressure, reducing blood fat, lowering blood sugar and resisting bacteria. Monascus also has certain antibacterial and antiseptic abilities. Monascus was first invented in China, with a history of production and application of 1000 years. It is a traditional rice fermented product unique to China and neighboring countries.
1. Introduction of Monascus
Monascus was first discovered in China, with a history of production and application of 1000 years. It is a traditional rice fermented product unique to China and neighboring countries. Monascus, called Qu Dan in ancient times, is not only a traditional Chinese medicine, but also a food. It is made by inoculating monascus on rice and fermenting. As a traditional Chinese medicine, Li Shizhen in Ming Dynasty evaluated it in Compendium of Materia Medica, and thought: "This is a wise man who can see nature" and "it is a wonderful medicine". In many ancient pharmacopoeias of China, this product has the functions of promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, strengthening the spleen and promoting digestion, and is used to treat dyspepsia, postpartum lochia, abdominal pain, traumatic injury, etc.
Monascus has a wonderful use in food in China. In the old society of Beijing, there was a well-known flavor snack called enema. Enema is actually not a sausage, but something similar to sausage made of flour and red yeast. Sliced, fried in a pot with pigs, served with garlic juice and salt water, it is absolutely delicious. Among them, monascus played a particularly important role. Not only enema, but also many well-known flavor foods at home and abroad, such as Wuxi sparerib, apple fish maw, cherry meat, stewed duck with rose, Yuanyang fish and jujube, peach steamed bread, water chestnut cake, Zhuji, Liuli, etc., all contain red yeast, which can also be used to brew yellow rice wine, make fermented bean curd, edible ester and food pigment. The appearance of Monascus has written a brilliant chapter in the history of food microbial fermentation in China and the world.
Monascus is a kind of red mold, and the ancients in China recognized its edible value long ago. Monascus has a wide range of uses. For example, before the invention of special sauce color (caramel) for ancient soy sauce, monascus was the main edible pigment of red food such as braised pork. Monascus is also an excellent raw material for food industry. For example, red rice wine (red wine) produced by monascus in Fujian, Taiwan Province and other provinces in China is well-known in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and is deeply loved by consumers. It is recognized as having the functions of relaxing muscles and activating blood circulation and strengthening the body. Japanese people are deeply influenced by China culture, and they also like red koji very much. For example, in rural Japan, red koji is added when curing pork. Under the action of monascus protein phenol, cured meat is fresh and tender, and its appearance is dark red, which greatly increases people's appetite.
In modern times, the study of monascus has attracted worldwide attention. Biologists in Peking University screened a monascus strain from many monascus strains, and found natural statins that can lower serum cholesterol in its metabolites. After a lot of work, the wild strain was mutated into a production strain, which can produce high-content and stable natural statins. It is a specific inhibitor of the key enzyme of human cholesterol synthesis (HMG——CoA reductase) and is suitable for pharmacy. At the same time, it can also produce many beneficial components, such as essential amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids. At this time, monascus is very different from monascus which is usually used as pigment, so it is called special monascus. Special monascus has been applied in pharmaceutical industry. A large number of studies have found that it has a very powerful comprehensive effect of reducing total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum triglyceride, atherosclerosis index and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and it is safe to take and has little side effects, and can effectively treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke, as well as hyperlipidemia-related diseases such as diabetes, nephrotic syndrome and fatty liver. It is considered to be the most promising lipid-lowering substance at present.
Monascus, making the past serve the present, has given it new vitality and vigor. Old medicine has a new look, which will bring new hope to human health.
Second, the medicinal value of monascus
In recent years, pharmacologists have found that monascus is an excellent natural drug for lowering blood lipid and blood pressure. In Compendium of Materia Medica, edited by Li Shizhen, there are several effective remedies containing monascus ingredients. A new lipid-lowering drug "Lezhiping" developed by researchers of Chinese Academy of Sciences with Monascus as raw material has the same efficacy as statins developed by American companies, and is called "China Statin" abroad. In addition, monascus derivatives also have strong antioxidant and anticancer effects. With the deepening of scientists' understanding of the physiological and pharmacological effects of monascus, the ancient monascus is expected to become an important source of new drugs.
Third, Jiting: the land of red yeast fragrance.
There is a small village near Houfo Highway. Every year from the beginning of July to the end of 10, the air in the village is filled with a faint fragrance. No matter on the roadside in the village or on the platform of the house, people see dry red songs, which are dazzling under the sunshine. This place where red koji is fragrant is Jiting.
Monascus, also known as "Redmi", is explained in Cihai as one of the microbial fermentation products of rice, which is cultivated by inoculating Monascus on rice. Monascus is produced in Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other provinces, especially in Gutian, Fujian.
The history of Jiting's production of red kojic rice cannot be verified, but it has a history of at least hundreds of years. According to Ding, a 77-year-old man, when he was young, his ancestors handed down the method of making red yeast rice that I didn't know when to stay. At that time, the chicken pavilion pond in front of his house was still foggy, and everything in the village was washed away by this clear pond. Today's chicken pavilion pond is small and shallow, and the river is getting more and more turbid. The shrinking river bank tells the history of a big pond disappearing step by step.
In the past, monascus was mostly made by rich people. Whenever there is a strong fragrance floating in the ancestral temple or hall, you will know who is making monascus. During this time, the water in Jitingtang will turn red because of washing monascus. For the sake of secret transmission, making monascus is only a man's patent, and it is only passed on to children, not to women. At the critical moment of making monascus, the master kept his mouth shut. Ordinary villagers are limited by economic conditions and venues, and it is impossible to make monascus. Therefore, before liberation, there were only a dozen monascus producers in Jiting Village, and the number was limited.
With the passage of time, more and more villagers began to explore the production of monascus, from two or three kilograms to twenty or thirty kilograms ... By the 1970s, the number of farmers making monascus had greatly increased. Older girls and young wives have mastered the traditional technology of making monascus, but the yield is not much. Traditional monascus production technology is gradually accepted by villagers. Ding introduced that the production of monascus generally goes through five processes: soaking, cooking, oxidation (fermentation), washing and drying. Most of the raw materials for making monascus are early glazed rice. In the past, most of the early glazed rice was purchased from Buddhist temples. Later, due to the increase in demand, it was purchased from Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan and other places. Jiting is about 1.5 km away from the Buddhist temple. In order to facilitate transportation, Jiting Village introduced a "goat-horn car" from Jiangxi. The body of the "Yangjiaoche" is all made of wood. The frame is narrow in front and wide in back, with two straight frames, and the front end is pointed and upturned, much like claws. A Xiao Mu wheel without spokes is installed at the bottom of Yangjiao Car, and the rim of the wheel is wrapped with iron sheet, which makes the car rattle when walking. Every time I go to a Buddhist temple fair, the creaking sound of Jiting's "horn cart" floats on the winding path. Many of these cars are used to make monascus for villagers, transport rice and transport monascus. Jiting became the earliest village with the largest number of push-pull carts in Fotang ancient town at that time, which was inseparable from the increase of villagers making red koji in the village at that time.
With rice, the villagers soaked it in water for about three to four hours and then steamed it on the stove. When the temperature of rice drops to about 30℃, add strains. Most of the previous strains were cultured by themselves. Because the quality of strains directly affects the speed and quality of monascus production, most strains were introduced from Fujian, Jiangxi and other provinces later. Bacteria can be divided into rice cakes, ester cakes and water cakes. In Jiting, most of the strains selected by villagers are ester cakes. After mixing rice and strains evenly with both hands, pile the rice into a pile and seal it for fermentation. After about 20 hours, the room was full of fragrance. It means that the rice has been fermented. At this time, spread out the fermented "rice" and rinse it every ten hours or so. When there is no running water, Jiting Hall becomes the most lively place in the village. The washing time of monascus should be properly controlled, so villagers who make monascus will carry "rice" to the pond for washing, no matter during the day or at midnight. With the sound of rushing water, the color of monascus becomes redder and redder over and over again. Wash it four or six times and you can dry it. The traditional production method of monascus is not only affected by the weather, but also limited by the environmental site. If the temperature and humidity are not well grasped, the quality of monascus will be greatly reduced. High-quality monascus has pure color and crisp rice grains. About one kilogram of rice can make 624 monascus.
In the early 1980s, monascus in Jiting Village was known to the surrounding counties and cities. More and more "koji merchants" come to Jiting to buy red koji. The earliest are Sangxian, Xinchang and Dongyang. Ding of Jiting took advantage of the spring breeze of reform and opening-up, seized the opportunity and took the lead in setting up a monascus factory in the village. Because the factory was small at that time, it could not produce monascus in large quantities. Ding took providing technology and raw materials as a way to get rich and mobilized villagers to process monascus. At that time, more than 400 villagers in Jiting Village processed red koji every day from early May to June at 5438+065438+ 10, and at most, they processed 20,000 tons of rice a year (i.e. 100 tons). 1985, Jiting became a professional village of red rice in Jinhua area. The red koji in Jiting is very famous in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and there are many "Qushang" in Tiantai, Wuyi, Longyou and Longquan.
With the efforts of the villagers, the traditional monascus production in Jiting reached its peak, and the villagers' life, like monascus, became more and more prosperous.
However, Ding found it more and more difficult to use traditional monascus production techniques, which was time-consuming and laborious. If we want monascus to move from a small village to a city and to the world, we must broaden our original ideas. From 65438 to 0988, Ding began to study monascus red pigment, and natural pigment co., Ltd. came into being. 1995, he reformed the traditional processing of monascus rice, successfully invented ultra-thick layer fermentation, and established domestic first-class fermentation technology and equipment of monascus rice, which saved 80% of the labor force, obviously improved the hygiene index and increased the site utilization rate by five times. Almost every production process has been replaced by machines, and the ancient monascus workshop has become full of vitality. According to incomplete statistics, three-fifths of the early rice meal in Jinhua has become the raw material for processing monascus. Last year, the output value of Natural Pigment Co., Ltd. was more than 38 million yuan, 98% of which was exported to 29 countries including Japan, South Korea and the European Union.
Ding of Jiting Village walked out of the village with his high-tech products and went to the world. However, most villagers in Jiting Village are still trapped in traditional monascus workshops. Ding said that making monascus is a "hot" process, and it is too hard to handle hot rice in hot season. So now someone in Jiting Village has gone out to do business, and only half of the farmers are making red koji at home. The amount of processed rice is about 2500 Jin, and the most is about 10000 Jin. The income of villagers ranges from 1000 yuan to 10000 yuan. Although the income cannot be directly proportional to the pay, the villagers who are mainly agricultural have been satisfied.
Traditional monascus production is like an old man, slowly reaching his twilight years. It is hoped that with the development of economy, more Ding-style figures will inject new vitality into the production of red koji wine, so that the fragrant place of red koji wine will remain fragrant forever. Monascus pigment is a natural pigment produced by monascus.