Relation of shear stress and K L a on bikaverin production by Fusarium oxysporum CCT7620 in a bioreactor

• Published in: Bioprocess and biosystems engineering Vol. 45; no. 4; p. 733
• Main Authors: Dos Santos, Marcela Colombo, Cerri, Marcel O, Bicas, Juliano Lemos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 01-04-2022
• Subjects: Bioreactors; Fermentation; Fusarium; Oxygen; Xanthones; Volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (K L a); Shear stress; Blue pigment; Optimization; Scale-up
• ISSN: 1615-7605
• DOI: 10.1007/s00449-022-02693-0

This study involved evaluating the effects of rotational impeller speed agitation (N) and specific air flow rate (Ф
) on bikaverin production and on the growth of Fusarium oxysporum employing 11 bench-scale bioreactor assays. The results showed that the maximum bikaverin production (close to 300 mg L
) was achieved after 48 h of fermentation in rice medium (20 g L
milled rice in water) at 28 °C with a volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (K
a) and shear stress values of approximately 20 h
and 17 N m
, respectively. We reached this combination of parameters using an N of 340 rpm and Ф
of 0.935 vvm. These K
a and shear stress values can be used as references when upscaling this process. Thus, this study was important to demonstrate how the main parameters in bioreactors affect bikaverin production and it presented important indications for upscaling this bioprocess.