초록
Microbial oxidation of D-sorbitol to L-sorbose by Acetobacter suboxydans is of commercial importance since it is the only biochemical process in vitamin C synthesis. The main bottleneck in the batch oxidation of sorbitol to sorbose is that the process is severely inhibited by sorbitol. Suitable fed-batch fermentation designs can eliminate the inherent substrate inhibition and improve sorbose productivity. Fed-batch sorbose fermentations were conducted by using two nutrient feeding strategies. For fed-batch fermentation with pulse feeding, highly concentrated sorbitor (600g/L) along with other nutrients were fed intermittently in four pulses of 0.5 liter in response to the increased DO signal. The fed-batch fermentation was over in 24h with a sorbose productivity of 13.40g/L/h and a final sorbose concentration of 320.48g/L. On the other hand, in fed-batch fermentation with multiple feeds, two pulse feeds of 0.5 liter nutrient medium containing 600g/L sorbitol was followed by the addition of 1.5 liter nutrient medium containing 600g/L sorbitol at a constant feed rate of 0.36L/h till the full working capacity of the reactor. The fermentation was completed in 24h with an enhanced sorbose productivity of 15.09g/L/h and a sorbose concentration of 332.60g/L. The sorbose concentration and productivity obtained by multiple feeding of nutrients was found to be higher than that obtained by pulse feeding and was therefore a better strategy for fed-batch sorbose fermentation.