BTC3201

FERMENTATION
TECHNOLOGY
SEMESTER 1 2022/2023

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THE LECTURERS

• Course coordinator
• Lecture: Week 1 – 7

• Lecture: Week 8 – 14

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 COURSE CONTENT AND
TEACHING PLAN

PutraBLAST:
http://learninghub.upm.edu.my/blastdk/my/

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 Tell me, I will forget
Show me, I may remember
Involve me, and I will understand
Step back, I act

(Ei-Ichiro Ochiai, 1993)

BTC3201: FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY

TOPIC 1:
INTRODUCTION TO
FERMENTATION PROCESS

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LESSON OUTCOME:

At the end of this topic, students would be able to:

1) Define the term fermentation.

2) List the examples of industrial fermentation products.
3) Explain in brief different mode of bioreactor
operations.

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 The term fermentation can be used to describe any
process involving the production of organic products by
the mass culture of microorganisms (bacteria, yeast and
fungi).

ORGANIC
PRODUCTS

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Mass culture of
microorganisms

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Historical overview of fermentation

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The four groups of commercially important fermentation process
using microorganisms are:
 Production of microbial cell or biomass as product (bakers yeast,
Lactic acid bacteria)
 Production of microbial enzymes (amylase, cellulase, protease,
lipase)
 Production of microbial metabolites:
- Primary metabolites (during exponential phase) – Ethanol, Citric
acid, Glutamic acid, Lysine, Vitamins, Polysaccharides etc
- Secondary metabolites (during stationary phase): Antibiotic,
Vaccines
 Biotransformation processes - to modify a compound which is
added to the fermentation (e.g. certain amino acids and fine
chemicals)
1) MICROBIAL BIOMASS

 Single cell protein (SCP) using unicellular algae such

as Chlorella or Spirulina for human or animal
consumption, or

 Viable yeast cells needed for the baking industry

(Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Baker’s yeast)

 Bacterial probiotics as animal feed (e.g. Lactobacillus

to enhance growth)
2) PRODUCTION OF ENZYMES

Industrial production of enzymes is needed for the

commercial production of food and beverages. Enzymes
are also used in clinical or industrial analysis and now
they are even added to detergent (e.g. cellulase, protease,
lipase).
Examples of commercially produced enzymes
Organism Enzymes

Aspergillus oryzae Amylase

Aspergillus niger Glucamylase

Trichoderma reesii Cellulase

Saccharomyces cerevisiea Invertase

Kluyveromyces fragilis Lactase

Saccharomycopsis lipolytica Lipase

Mucor meihei Microbial rennet

3) MICROBIAL METABOLITES

i) Primary metabolites:

During the log or exponential phase, microorganisms

produce variety of substances essential for their growth,
such as nucleotides, nucleic acids, amino acids, proteins,
carbohydrates, lipids, etc., or by- products of energy
yielding metabolism such as ethanol, acetone, butanol,
etc. These products are usually called primary
metabolites.
Examples of commercially produced primary metabolites
Primary metabolites Organism Significance

Ethanol Saccharomyces Alcoholic beverages

cerevisiae
Citric acid Aspergillus niger Food Industry

Acetone and butanol Clostridium Solvents

acetobutyricum
Lysine Corynebacterium Nutritional additive

Vitamin B12 Pseudomonas Nutritional

denitrificans
Xanthan gum Xanthomonas campestris Industrial

Dextran Leuconostoc Industrial

mesenteroides
ii) Secondary metabolites:

 Microorganisms produce a number of products other

than the primary metabolites.

 Many secondary metabolites are produced from

intermediates and end products of secondary
metabolism.
Examples of commercially produced secondary metabolites
Metabolite Species Significance
Penicillin Penicillium chrysogenum antibiotic
Erythromycin Streptomyces erythreus antibiotic
Streptomycin Streptomyces griseus antibiotic
Cephalosporin Cephalosporium antibiotic
acrimonium
Griseofulvin Penicillium griseofulvin antifunga
Cyclosporin A Tolypocladium inflatum immunosuppressant
Gibberellin Gibberella fujikuroi plant growth
regulator
4) BIOTRANSFORMATION PROCESS

Biotransformation involves the alteration of chemicals or drugs

with the aim to enhance the properties of the chemicals.
Biotransformation is also used to transform raw materials into
ingredients to improve the flavour, digestibility and/or shelf life of
food. accelerate blood clotting, reduce blood pressure, decrease the serum lipid

Examples: level, produce liver necrosis, and modulate immunoresponses.

- Fermentation of cocoa beans to remove tannin from the beans
in order to improve the taste of chocolate.
- Biotransformation of soybean into tempeh by Rhizopus
increases the digestibility and bioavailability of proteins,
carbohydrates, lipids and minerals; and enhances the vitamin
content of the final product.
- Fermentation of cholic acid into ketocholic acid (a type of
steroid for pharmaceutical purpose)
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Examples of industrial fermentation products:

i) Baker’s yeast
ii) Lactic acid
iii) Acetic acid
iv) Yoghurt
v) Enzymes (lipase, cellulase, amylase, etc)
vi) Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
vii) Bioplastics (Polyhydroxyalkanoates)
viii)Bioethanol
ix) Biobutanol
x) Vaccine
xi) Antibiotics

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Fermentations can be carried out either in:
i) submerged (liquid medium), or
ii) solid state (solid or semi solid medium)

Solid state fermentation Submerged fermentation

More than 90% of industrial processes are

carried out as submerged fermentation.
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A generalized schematic representation of a typical
submerged fermentation process:

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The success of a fermentation depends upon the
existence of defined environmental conditions for
biomass and product formation.
Temperature, pH, degree of agitation, oxygen
concentration in the culture and other factors may
have to be kept constant during the process. The
provision of such conditions requires careful
monitoring of the fermentation so that any deviation
from the specified optimum conditions might be
corrected by a control system.

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•In fermentation, the use of an aseptic
fermentation vessel which is termed as the
fermenter or bioreactor is common.
•The main function of a fermenter is to
provide a controlled environment for the
growth of a microorganism to obtain a
desired product.
•Fermenter should be capable to be
operated aseptically for a number of days
and should be reliable in long-term
operation.
•For aerobic fermentation, adequate
aeration and agitation should be provided to
meet the metabolic requirements of the
microorganism.

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INDUSTRIAL FERMENTATION
Involves mass production of cells and products..
>> bioreactor is needed!

Figure. The world’s largest fermenter having dimensions of 200 ft high and 25 ft diameter.
Type: Air lift bioreactor. Capacity: 2000 m3. For single cell protein (SCP) production.

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1) Stirred Tank Fermenter

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Picture courtesy of http://www2.hawaii.edu/~wsu/bioreactor/sld004.htm and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioreactor
2) Air-Lift Fermenter

L-R: Bubble column, Airlift fermenter with

internal draft tube, Airlift fermenter with
external draft tube

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MODE OF BIOREACTOR OPERATION

Commonly, there are three basic modes of bioreactor

operation which will differentiate the types of
fermentation:

1) Batch fermentation
2) Fed-batch fermentation
3) Continuous fermentation

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BATCH FERMENTATION
Considered to be a closed system. At
time t=0, the sterilized nutrient solution
in the fermenter is inoculated with
microorganisms and incubation is
allowed to proceed.
In the course of the entire fermentation,
nothing is added, except oxygen (in case
of aerobic microorganisms), an antifoam
agent, and acid or base to control the pH.
The composition of the culture medium,
the biomass concentration, and the
metabolite concentration generally
change constantly as a result of the
metabolism of the cells.
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 FED-BATCH FERMENTATION
Substrate is added as the
Pump
fermentation progresses. In
the fed-batch method the
critical elements of the
nutrients (rate limiting
substrate) are added in small
concentrations at the
beginning of the
fermentation and these
substances continued to be
added in small doses during
Feedstock
the production phase.
vessel Generally, this will cause
(sterile)
increment in volume.
CONTINUOUS FERMENTATION
An open system set up. Sterile nutrient solution is added to
the bioreactor continuously and an equivalent amount of
converted nutrient solution with microorganisms is
simultaneously taken out of the system at the same rate.

Feed Fi
medium
reservoir V

Fo
Outflow
containing
product
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OVERVIEW OF AN INDUSTRIAL
FERMENTATION PROCESS

http://www.ilocis.org/documents/chpt79e.htm
 Reading Materials

1) Industrial Scale Fermentation

2) Vaccine Manufacturing

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 Assignment
Individual task:
Name one commercially available fermentation product in
the market.

Please explain how the product is being produced.

(include substrates and mode of bioreactor operation used)

Submit your answer on PutraBLAST.

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LIST THREE NEW THINGS THAT YOU
HAVE LEARNED FROM THIS TOPIC.

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