Fermentation

Cruz, Tiffany
Grace V.
Era, Emil D.
Humarang, Jelain
A.

Introduction
Fermentation technology is the oldest of all biotechnological processes.
The term is derived from the Latin verb fevere, to boil--the appearance of
fruit extracts or malted grain acted upon by yeast, during the production
of alcohol.
Fermentation is a process of chemical change caused by organisms or
their products, usually producing effervescence and heat.
Microbiologists consider fermentation as 'any process for the production
of a product by means of mass culture of micro-organisms'.
Biochemists consider fermentation as 'an energy-generating process in
which organic compounds act both as electron donors and acceptors';
hence fermentation is an anaerobic process where energy is produced
without the participation of oxygen or other inorganic electron
acceptors.

MICROORGANISMS
Several speciesbelongingto the following categories of
micro-organisms are used in fermentation processes:
PROKARYOTIC Unicellular: bacteria,
cyanobacteria
Multicellular:
cyanobacteria
EUKARYOTIC Unicellular: yeasts,
algae
Multicellular: fungi,

MICROBIAL GROWTH
A. REQUIREMENTS FOR ARTIFICIAL CULTURE
The growth of organisms involves complex energy basedprocesses. The rate of
growth of micro-organisms is dependent upon severalculture conditions,which
should provide for the energy required for various chemical reactions. The
production of a specific compound requires very precise cultural conditions at a
particular growth rate. Many systems now operate under computer control.
The rate of growth of micro-organisms and hence the synthesis of various chemical
compounds under artificial culture, requires organism specific chemical compounds
as thegrowth (nutrient) medium. The kinds and relative concentrations of
the ingredients of the medium, the pH, temperature, purity of the cultured organism,
etc., influence microbial growth and hence the production ofbiomass(the total
mass of cells or the organism being cultured), and the synthesis of various
compounds. The nutrient sources for industrial fermentation are given in Table 1.

PHASES OF MICROBIAL GROWTH

Lag Phase
This is the first phase in the fermentation
process
The cells have just been injected into a new
environment and they need time to adjust
accordingly
Cell growth is minimal in this phase.

Exponential Phase
The second phase in the fermentation process
The cells have adjusted to their environment
and rapid growth takes place
Cell growth rate is highest in this phase

 Exponential Phase (Continued)

At some point the cell growth rate will level off and become constant
The most likely cause of this leveling off is substrate limited inhibition
Substrate limited inhibition means that the microbes do not have enough

nutrients in the medium to continue multiplying.

Stationary phase
This is the third phase in the fermentation process
The cell growth rate has leveled off and become constant
The number of cells multiplying equals the number of cells dying

Death phase
The fourth phase in the fermentation process
The number of cells dying is greater than the number of cells
multiplying
The cause of the death phase is usually that the cells have consumed most of

the nutrients in the medium and there is not enough left for sustainability

FERMENTERS AND
BIOREACTORS
A fermenter is the set up to carry out theprocess of fermentation. The
fermenters vary from laboratory experimental models of one or two liters
capacity, to industrial models of several hundred liters capacity, which
refers to the volume of the main fermenting vessel.
Abioreactordiffers from a fermenter in that the former is used for the
mass culture of plant or animal cells, instead of micro-organisms. The
chemical compounds synthesized by these cultured cells, such as
therapeutic agents, can be extracted easily from the cell biomass.
The design engineering and operational parameters of both fermenters
and bioreactors are identical. With the involvement of micro-organisms
as elicitors in some situations, the distinction between the two concepts is
being gradually obliterated.

DESIGN OF INDUSTRIAL
FERMENTATIONPROCESS
The fermentation process requires the following:
a) a purecultureof the chosen organism, in sufficient quantity and in the
correct physiological state;
b) sterilised, carefully composedmedium for growthof the organism;
c) aseed fermenter, a mini-model of production fermenter to develop an
inoculum to initiate theprocessin themain fermenter;
d) aproduction fermenter, the functional large model; and
e) equipment for i) drawing the culture medium in steady state, ii) cell
separation, iii) collection of cell free supernatant, iv) product purification, and
v) effluent treatment.
Items a) to c) above constitute theupstreamand e) constitutes
thedownstream, of the fermentation process,
Fermenters/bioreactors are equipped with an aerator to supply oxygen in

Types Of Fermentation Processes

1. Batch fermentations
A tank of fermenter is filled with the prepared mash of raw materials to
be fermented. The temperature and pH for microbial fermentation is
properly adjusted, and occassionally nutritive supplements are added
to the prepared mash. The mash is steam-sterilized in a pure culture
process. The inoculum of a pure culture is added to the fermenter, from
a separate pure culture vessel. Fermentation proceeds, and after the
proper time the contents of the fermenter, are taken out for further
processing. The fermenter is cleaned and the process is repeated. Thus
each fermentation is a discontinuous process divided into batches.

2. Continuous fermentation
Growth of microorganisms during batch fermentation
confirms to the characteristic growth curve, with a lag
phase followed by a logarithmic phase. This, in turn, is
terminated by progressive decrements in the rate of
growth until the stationary phase is reached. This is
because of limitation of one or more of the essential
nutrients. In continuous fermentation, the substrate is
added to the fermenter continuously at a fixed rate. This
maintains the organisms in the logarithmic growth phase.
The fermentation products are taken out continuously.
The design and arrangements for continuous
fermentation are somewhat complex.

3. Aerobic fermentations
A number of industrial processes,
although called 'fermentations', are
carried on by microorganisms under
aerobic conditions. In older aerobic
processes it was necessary to furnish
a large surface area by exposing
fermentation media to air. In modern
fermentation processes aerobic
conditions are maintained in a closed
fermenter with submerged cultures.
The contents of the fermenter are
agitated with au impeller and aerated
by forcing sterilized air.

4. Anaerobic fermentations
Basically a fermenter designed to operate under microaerophilic or anaerobic conditions will be the same as
that designed to operate under aerobic conditions,
except that arrangements for intense agitation and
aeration are unnecessary. Many anaerobic fermentations
do, however, require mild aeration for the initial growth
phase, and sufficient N agitation for mixing and
maintenance of temperature.

Basic Steps of Industrial

Fermentation
Any industrial fermentation operation can be broken down into three main stages,
viz,upstream processing, the fermentation process and downstream processing.

Upstream processingincludesformulation of the fermentation

medium,sterilisationof air, fermentation medium and the
fermenter,inoculum preparationandinoculationof the medium.
Thefermentation mediumshould contain anenergy source,
acarbon source, anitrogen sourceandmicronutrientsrequired for
the growth of the microorganism along withwaterandoxygen, if
necessary.
A medium which is used for a large scale fermentation, in order to ensure
the sustainability of the operation, should have the following
characteristics;
1. It should be cheap and easily available
2. It should maximise the growth of the microorganism, productivity and
the rate of formation of the desired product
3. It should minimise the formation of undesired products
Usually, waste products from other industrial processes, such as
molasses, lignocellulosic wastes, cheese whey and corn steep liquor,

Sterilisationis essential for preventing the contamination with any undesired

microorganisms.Airis sterilised by membrane filtrationwhile themediumis usuallyheat
sterilised. Any nutrient component which isheat labileisfilter-sterilisedand later added to
the sterilised medium. The fermenter may be sterilised together with the medium or separately.

Inoculum build upis the preparation of the seed culture in amounts sufficient to be used in the
large fermenter vessel. This involves growing the microorganismsobtained from the pure
stock cultureinseveral consecutive fermenters. This process cuts down the time required
for the growth of microorganisms in the fermenter, thereby increasing the rate of productivity.
Then the seed culture obtained through this process is used to inoculate the fermentation
medium.

Inoculum preparation procedure

The fermentation processinvolves thepropagation of the

microorganismandproduction of the desired product. The
fermentation process can be categorised depending on various
parameters.
Downstream Processingincludes therecovery of the
productsin a pure state and theeffluent treatment.Product
recoveryis carried out through a series of operations
includingcell separationby settling, centrifugation or filtration;
product recoveryby disruption of cells (if the product is produced
intracellularly);extractionandpurificationof the product.
Finally, theeffluents are treatedby chemical, physical or
biological methods.

Fermentation Products
Commercially important products of fermentation can be described in five
major groups as follows.
1.Biomass(Bakers yeast, SCP, Starter cultures, animal feed, etc.)
2.Primary metabolites(amino acids, organic acids, vitamins,
polysaccharides, ethanol, etc.) andsecondary metabolites(antibiotics,
etc.)
3.Bioconvertion or biotransformation products(steroid
biotransformation, L-sorbitol etc.)
4.Enzymes(amylase, lipase, cellulase, etc.)
5.Recombinant products(some vaccines, hormones such as isulin and
growth hormones etc.)

Applications of Fermentation
Early in human history, people used naturally occurring yeast for fermentation. The
products of such reactions depended on whatever enzymes might occur in "wild" yeast.
Today, wine-makers are able to select from a variety of specially cultured yeast that
control the precise direction that fermentation will take.
Ethyl alcohol is not the only useful product of fermentation. The carbon dioxide
generated during fermentation is also an important component of many baked goods.
When the batter for bread is mixed, for example, a small amount of sugar and yeast is
added. During the rising period, sugar is fermented by enzymes in the yeast, with the
formation of carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gives the batter bulkiness and
texture that would be lacking without the fermentation process.
Fermentation has a number of commercial applications beyond those described thus far.
Many occur in the food preparation and processing industry. A variety of bacteria are
used in the production of olives, cucumber pickles, and sauerkraut from the raw olives,
cucumbers, and cabbage, respectively. The selection of exactly the right bacteria and the
right conditions (for example, acidity and salt concentration) is an art in producing food
products with exactly the desired flavors. An interesting line of research in the food
sciences is aimed at the production of edible food products by the fermentation of
petroleum.

In some cases, antibiotics and other drugs can be prepared by

fermentation if no other commercially efficient method is available. For
example, the important drug cortisone can be prepared by the
fermentation of a plant steroid known as diosgenin. The enzymes used in
the reaction are provided by the mold Rhizopus nigricans.
One of the most successful commercial applications of fermentation has
been the production of ethyl alcohol for use in gasohol. Gasohol is a
mixture of about 90% gasoline and 10% alcohol. The alcohol needed for
this product can be obtained from the fermentation of agricultural and
municipal wastes. The use of gasohol provides a promising method for
using renewable resources (plant material) to extend the availability of a
nonrenewable resource (gasoline).
Another application of the fermentation process is in the treatment of
wastewater. In the activated sludge process, aerobic bacteria are used to
ferment organic material in wastewater. Solid wastes are converted to
carbon dioxide, water, and mineral salts.

CONCLUSION
Fermentation technology is a very vibrant and fast
growing area of biotechnology, absorbing an ever
increasing processes and products. With a longer
history than any area of biological sciences, fermentation
technology has a longer and brighter future, in the
service of mankind, covering such important areas as
food and medicine.

References:
http://www.gitam.edu/eresource/environmental/em_maruth
i/industrial.htm

http://science.jrank.org/pages/2677/Fermentation-Uses.h
tml

http://www.biotechnologyforums.com/thread-2336.html