Introduction The very beginnings of fermentation technology the use of micro-organism s for the production of foods such as cheeses,

yoghurts, sauerkraut, fermented p ickles and sausages, soy sauce, and other oriental products, and beverages such as beers, wines and derived spirits Microorganisms play an important role in removing obnoxious and unhealth ful wastes, in water purification, effluent treatment and solid waste management New products are increasingly being derived from microbial fermentations, namely : 1. To overproduce essential primary metabolites such as acetic and lactic a cids, glycerol, acetone, butyl alcohol, organic acids, amino acids, vitamins and polysaccharides; 2. To produce secondary metabolites (metabolites that do not appear to have an obvious role in the metabolism of the producer organism) such as penicillin, s treptomycin, cephalosporin, giberellins, etc. 3. To produce many forms of industrially useful enzymes, e.g. exocellular e nzymes such as amylases, pectinases and proteases, and intracellular enzymes suc h as invertase, asparaginase, restriction endonucleases, etc. Plant cell culture is aimed largely at secondary product formations such as flavours, perfumes and drugs whereas mammalian cell culture has been concerned with vaccine and antibody formation and the production of protein molecules suc h as interferon, interleukins, etc. The organisms must be cultivated and motivated to form the desired produ cts by means of a Physical/technical containment system (the bioreactor), The correct medium composition Environmental growth regulating parameters such as temperature and aerat ion. The same apparatus, with modifications, can be used to produce an enzyme , an--antibiotic, an amino acid or single cell protein. With a nutrient broth and allowing the components to react, e.g. yeast c ells with a sugar solution to give alcohol. All the biological systems are essentially performed in a bioreactor by choosing correct medium and optimized conditions for growth

Fermentation products according to industrial sector Sector Activities Organic (Bulk) Ethanol, acetone, butanol Organic acids (citric, itaconic) Organic (Fine) Enzymes Perfumeries

Polymers (mainly polysaccharides) Inorganic Metal beneficiation, bioaccumulation and leaching (Cu and U) Pharmaceuticals Antibiotics Diagnostic agents (enzymes, monoclonal antibodies) Enzyme inhibitors Steroids Vaccines Energy Ethanol (gasohol) Methane (biogas) Biomass Food Dairy products (cheeses, yogurts, fish and meat products Beverages (alco holic, tea and coffee) Baker's yeast Food additives (antioxidants, colors, flavors, stabilizers, Novel foods (soy sau ce, tempeh, miso) Mushroom products Amino acids, vitamins Starch products Glucose and high fructose syrups Functional modifications of proteins, pectins Agriculture Animal feedstuffs (SCP) Veterinary vaccines Ensilage and composting processes Microbial pesticides Rhizobium and other N-fixing bacterial inoculants Mycorrhizal inoculants Plant cell and tissue culture (vegetative propagation, embryo production, geneti c improvement)

Advantages and disadvantages of producing organic compounds by biological rather than chemical means Advantages Disadvantages Complex molecules such as protein and antibodies can be produced by chemical means Can easily be contaminated by foreign and unwanted microorganisms Bioconversions give higher yields The desired product will usually be present in a complex product mixture requiring separation Biological systems are operated at lower temp, near neutral pH Need to provide, handle and dispose of large volume of water Very specific towards catalytic reaction Are very slow when compared with Conventional chemical process Achieve exclusive production of an

isomeric compound Examples of products in different categories in biochemical industries Category Example Cell mass Baker s yeast, single cell protein Cell components Intracellular protein Biosynthetic products Antibiotics, vitamins, amino and organic acids Catabolic products Ethanol, methane, lactic acid Bioconversion High fructose corn syrup, 6-aminopenicillanic acid Waste treatment Activated sludge, anaerobic digestion Principles of microbial growth The growth of organisms may be seen Increase of cell material in terms of mass or cell number Growth depends upon availability and transport of nutrients and environm ent conditions like temp, pH and aeration The quantity of biomass in bioreactor is determined by gravimetrically i .e. by dry and wet weight, DNA or protein or numerically Doubling time means time required for the doubling in the weight of biom ass Generation time means doubling cell number Average doubling time increases the cell size; bacteria 0.25-1hr, mould fungi 2-6.5h, plant cell 20-70 hr and animal cell 15-48 hr Biotechnologically, three ways for the growth of microorganisms in the bioreactor batch, semi-continuous and continuous Batch process Fixed volume of medium in bioreactor As growth takes place nutrients are consumed and products of growth (biomass, metabolites) accumulate Nutrient environment within the bioreactor is changing thus affecting ce ll metabolism Cell multiplication ceases due to limitation of nutrients Accumulation of toxic exerted waste products

Growth characteristics in a batch culture of a microorganism: 1. Initial lag phase: No apparent growth, cells are in the process of adapting environmental condition and that new growth will eventually begin 2. Transient acceleration: Inoculum begins to grow 3. Exponential phase: Growth is of limited duration proceeds at the maximum possible rate for that organism, with in excess, ideal environmental paramet

ers and growth inhibitor absent 4. Deceleration phase: Due to change of nutrition condition growth rate decrease s 5. Stationery phase: when overall growth can no longer be obtained because of nutrient exhaustion. 6. Death phase when growth rate has ceased.