Isolation and identification of pigment producing bacteria and characterization of extracted pigments

Bacterial pigments have many applications in current day to day life. The pigments produced by chromobacteria can be used for applications in dairy, pharmaceutical, food etc. In the current study, 03 pigmented bacterial isolates obtained from the soil, were used for pigment extraction and study. It was observed that pigment production was increasing as the temperature increased from 10 oC and maximum production was seen at temperature of 37 °C in 48 hrs. However on transferring the flasks in refrigerator at 4 oC, the intensity of pigment was increased. The maximum pigmentation was also observed at pH of 6 – 7 and at salt concentrations of 4% and 8%. The extracts were prepared using chloroform as solvent and the absorption maximum of each sample was determined using colorimeter. The pigments were further analysed using Paper chromatography. Antibacterial activity of pigments revealed that they had no inhibitory action against E coli, Pseudomonas sps, Klebsiella sps, Proteus sps, Staphylococcus sps. Germination against Vigna radiata seeds (green moong) revealed that these pigments had no specific effects on the seed germination. Thus the current study can be a useful step for large-scale production of pigments, their purification and application in various industries.