•Proof of concept of growth on wheat bran for four microorganisms.•Selection of plant biomass-consuming microorganisms can be performed using carbohydrates and proteases specific databases.•Degradation of wheat bran can be followed with Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy coupled to enzyme activity analysis.•Carotenoids, flexirubin and canthaxanthin can be produced from a cheap and renewable carbon source. Pigments are compounds with highly diverse structures and wide uses, which production is increasing worldwide. An eco-friendly method of bioproduction is to use the ability of some microorganisms to ferment on renewable carbon sources. Wheat bran (WB) is a cheap and abundant lignocellulosic co-product of low recalcitrance to biological conversion. Microbial candidates with theoretical ability to degrade WB were first preselected using specific databases. The microorganisms were Ashbya gossypii (producing riboflavin), Chitinophaga pinensis (producing flexirubin), Chromobacterium vaccinii (violacein) and Gordonia alkanivorans (carotenoids). Growth was shown for each on minimal salt medium supplemented with WB at 5 g.L−1. Activities of the main enzymes consuming WB were measured, showing leucine amino-peptidase (up to 8.45 IU. mL−1) and β-glucosidase activities (none to 6.44 IU. mL−1). This was coupled to a FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red) study of the WB residues that showed main degradation of the WB protein fraction for C. pinensis, C. vaccinii and G. alkanivorans. Production of the pigments on WB was assessed for all the strains except Ashbya, with values of production reaching up to 1.47 mg.L−1. The polyphasic approach used in this study led to a proof of concept of pigment production from WB as a cheap carbon source.