Co-production of biomass and metabolites by cell retention culture of Leuconostoc citreum

Abstract

Cell retention culture of lactic acid bacterium Leuconostoc citreum was carried out in a fermentor equipped with an internal ceramic filtration system to co-produce biomass and metabolites. The filtration system was composed of porous ceramic filter module with pore size of 0.1 μm and total surface area of 330 cm². High cell density cultivation of L. citreum was achieved within the fermentor, while extracellular metabolites such as mannitol and d-lactic acid were produced through the filter with high productivities. In batch culture of L. citreum using a medium containing 50 g/L of glucose and 100 g/L of fructose, the maximum optical density (OD) monitored at 660 nm was 13 with 65 g/L of mannitol and 38 g/L of lactic acid. In cell retention culture of L. citreum with dilution rate of 0.07 h⁻¹, OD increased to 75, which was 6 times higher than that in batch culture. The concentrations of mannitol and lactic acid increased to 85 and 45 g/L, respectively, and were maintained throughout the cultivation to 105 h. By increasing dilution rate to 0.13 h⁻¹, the productivities of mannitol and lactic acid increased to 8.5 and 4.2 g/L/h, respectively, which were 2.7 to 3 times higher than those in batch culture, suggesting that cell retention culture using internal filtration system is highly effective for co-production of useful cell biomass and various extracellular metabolites.