High Yield of Prodigiosin by Serratia marcescens Ka3 Using Additive Huangshui, a Byproduct of Chinese Liquor (Baijiu).

Huangshui, a characteristic byproduct of Chinese liquor production, was first used as an additive to promote the production of prodigiosin with Serratia marcescens Ka3 in a 5 L bioreactor. Based on the prodigiosin levels in the peptone glycerol medium, the yield of prodigiosin reached 48,341 mg/L after adding 1% Huangshui following 60 h of fermentation, which is currently a high yield in bioreactors. The purity of the prodigiosin extracted from the fermentation broth and purified using a microporous filter membrane was 97%. Purified prodigiosin showed significant inhibitory effects on human lung carcinoma A549 cells and human colon adenocarcinoma HT29 cells. It also inhibited the human gastric adenocarcinoma SGC7901 cells, albeit not significantly. The IC of prodigiosin against A549, HT29, and SGC7901 cells were 0.39 μg/mL, 0.45 μg/mL, and 1.30 μg/mL, respectively. The results of the present study showed that prodigiosin production using Huangshui had the advantages of high yield, simple purification, high purity, and anticancer activity. Therefore, Huangshui is a potential additive that promotes the production of microbial secondary metabolites such as prodigiosin.