ABSTRACT
Pigments are compounds that absorb light and give materials their characteristic colours. The organic colours come from a wide variety of insects, plants, and bacteria. Due to the health risks that synthetic pigments pose to both the manufacturing workforce and the general public, there is a growing demand in the market for natural pigments and microbial pigments in particular. A wide variety of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, yeast and moulds are used in the commercial synthesis of a wide range of pigments, with correspondingly diverse methods of manufacturing. Antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, and other bio-pharmacological activities are just a few of the biological properties of microbial pigments that have intrigued modern researchers, who also take advantage of them as colourants in the food, plastic, textile, paint, printing, and paper industries, all of which are covered in this chapter. Here, we will explore the applications of pigments produced by microorganisms such as melanins, quinines, flavins, violacein, monascins, phycobiliproteins, anthraquinones and carotenoids, as well as their limitations and the possibilities for their future growth. Different methods of extracting intracellular pigments are also discussed in this chapter: organic solvents, solid-phase extraction, homogenization, freeze–thaw method, ultrasonication, inorganic acids and Soxhlet extraction.
