Production of lovastatin was carried out by Monascuspurpureus MTCC 369 using agro-industrial residues likecorn bran as substrate under solid state fermentation. Lovastatin is a potent hypercholesterolemic drug used forlowering blood cholesterol. In recent years, lovastatin has also been reported as a potential therapeutic agent forthe treatment of various types of tumors and also play a tremendous role in the regulation of the inflammatoryand immune response, coagulation process, bone marrow, neovascularization, vascular tone, and arterialpressure. Process parameters like Incubation time (336 h), Temperature (30oC), Moisture content (70%), Inoculumage (14 days), Inoculum volume (30% v/w),pH of the medium(6.0), carbon source (2% Lactose) and nitrogen source(2.5% Ammonium Sulphate) were optimized and gave an overall yield of 11.2 mg/gds of lovastatin afteroptimization.

Keywords: Lovastatin, Monascuspurpureus, corn bran, Solid state fermentation, Process parameters, Optimization