STIMULATION OF CEPHALOSPORIN PRODUCTION DURING THE FERMENTATION OF CEPHALOSPORIUM ACREMONIUM IMMOBILIZED IN PVA-ALGINATE BEADS BY ULTRASONICATION

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Production of antibiotics is one of the most important areas in the field of applied microbiology and cephalosporin is one of the best-used antibiotics till today. Conventional methods of fermentation for more productivity are by immobilization and bioreactor studies. During recent years a drive towards “process intensification” is leading to the search for diverse fields like sound, microwave, photoenergy etc to provide unusual environment for the enhanced product formation. In this view, a study has been undertaken to see the effect of sonication on the cephalosporin formation by C. acremonium ATCC 48272 immobilized in PVA-Alginate beads compared with that of control. Sonication at 10 KHz for 10 min; 280C showed that sonication of fermented medium at every 24 hrs is effective, which gave a yield of 418.23 g/ml and almost remained stable for 8 days without much decline in yield of the product; when compared to control & if sonication was stopped at 24 hrs, drop in the yield was noticed. Sonication during growth stage plays a negative role because early stages of growth cells are sensitive to sonication, but at production stage higher yield was noticed due to cavitation effect. Ultrasonication improved both external & internal mass transfer. Enhancement in cephalosporin production is discussed in detail.

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