BIOPROCESS 1

SBT 2132
ROHAIDA CHE MAN
820311-11-5432
HP: 012-9472376
Email: eda_rcm@yahoo.com
 An Introduction to
Fermentation Processes
 THE RANGE OF FERMENTATION
PROCESS

Those that produce:

• microbial cells (or biomass) as the
product
• microbial enzymes
• microbial metabolites
• recombinant product
• Those that modify a compound which is
added to the fermentation – the
transformation process
 Microbial Biomass

• The commercial production of

microbial biomass may be divided into
two major processes:
production of yeast to be used in the
baking industry
production of microbial cells to be
used as human or animal food.
 Microbial Enzymes
• Enzymes have been produced commercially from plant,
animal and microbial sources.
• Microbial enzymes have the enormous advantage of
being able to be produced in large quantities by
established fermentation techniques.
• Also, it is infinitely easier to improve the productivity
of a microbial system compared with a plant or animal
one.
• The advent of recombinant DNA technology has
enabled enzymes of animal origin to be synthesized by
microorganisms.
• Ex:
Sources - Bacterial
Enzyme - Amylase
Industry - Textiles
Application - Desizing of fabrics
 Microbial Metabolites
• After the inoculation of a culture into a
nutrient medium there is a period during
which growth does not appear to occur;
“lag phase” (time of adaptation).
• Log/exponential phase - growth rate of
the cells gradually increases the cells
grow at a constant and maximum rate.
• Stationary phase – growth cease
• Death phase – the viable cell number
declines
 Cont…

• Log phase - product produced: growth of the

cells, amino acids, nucleotides, proteins,
nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates.
• These products are referred to as the
primary products of metabolism.
• The phase they are produced (equivalent to
the log/exponential phase) – “trophophase”.
• Many products of primary metabolism are of
considerable economic importance and are
being produced by fermentation.
 Cont….
• Deceleration and stationary phase – some
microbial cultures synthesize compounds which
are not produced during the trophophase and
which are not appear to have any obvious
function in cell metabolism.
• These compounds are referred to as the
secondary compounds of metabolism.
• The phase they are produced (equivalent to
the stationary phase) – “idiophase”.
• Secondary metabolism may occur in continuous
cultures at low growth rates and is a property
of slow-growing, as well as non-growing cells.
 Recombinant Products
• Genes from higher organisms may be introduced
into microbial cells such that the recipients are
capable of synthesizing foreign proteins.
• A wide range of microbial cells have been used as
hosts for systems including E. coli, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae & fungi.
• Products produced by such genetically engineered
organisms: insulin, interferon, human serum albumin.
• Important factors in the design of these
processes:
 The secretion of the products
 Minimization of the degradation of the product
 Control of the onset of synthesis during the
fermentation
 Maximizing the expression of the foreign gene
 Transformation Processes
• Microbial cells may be used to convert a compound into a
structurally related and financially more valuable compound.
• Micro-organisms can behave as:
 Catalysts with high positional specificity
 Microbial processes are more specific than purely chemical
 Removal or modification of functional groups at specific
sites on a complex molecule without the use of chemical
protection
• The reactions which may be catalyzed: dehydrogenation,
oxidation, dehydration & condensation, amination.
• Microbial processes have the additional advantage over
chemical reagents of operating at relatively low
temperatures and pressures without the requirement for
potentially polluting heavy-metal catalysts.
• Ex: production of vinegar (conversion of ethanol to acetic
acid).
THE CHRONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
OF THE FERMENTATION INDUSTRY

The chronology development of the

fermentation industry may be
represented as five overlapping stages
as illustrated in Table 1.3.
 THE COMPONENT PARTS OF THE
FERMENTATION PROCESS
•Formulation of media to be used in culturing
process organism during the development of the
inoculum and in the production fermenter
•The sterilization of the medium, fermenters and
ancillary equipment
•The production of an active, pure culture in
sufficient quantity to inoculate the production vessel
•The growth of the organism in the production
fermenter under optimum conditions for product
formation
•The extraction of the product and its purification
•The disposal of effluents produce by the process