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Enhanced continuous production of lovastatin using pellets and siran supported growth of Aspergillus terreus in an airlift reactor

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Abstract

Lovastatin, a hypocholesterolemic agent, is a secondary metabolite produced by filamentous microorganism Aspergillus terreus in submerged batch cultivation. Lovastatin production by pellets and immobilized siran cells was investigated in an airlift reactor. The process was carried out by submerged cultivation in continuous mode with the objective of increasing productivity using pellet and siran supported growth of A terreus. The continuous mode of fermentation improves the rate of lovastatin production. The effect of dilution rate and aeration rate were studied in continuous culture. The optimum dilution rate for pellet was 0.02 h−1 and for siran carrier was 0.025 h−1. Lovastatin productivity using immobilized siran carrier (0.0255 g/L/h) was found to be greater than pellets (0.022 g/L/h). The productivity by both modes of fermentation was found higher than that of batch process which suggests that continuous cultivation is a promising strategy for lovastatin production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Kamakshi Gupta & Pradeep Srivastava

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    P. K. Mishra

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  1. Kamakshi Gupta
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  2. P. K. Mishra
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  3. Pradeep Srivastava
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Correspondence to Pradeep Srivastava.

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Gupta, K., Mishra, P.K. & Srivastava, P. Enhanced continuous production of lovastatin using pellets and siran supported growth of Aspergillus terreus in an airlift reactor. Biotechnol Bioproc E 14, 207–212 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-008-0185-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-008-0185-2

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