Industrial enzymes solid-state fermentation

Pandey A, Selvakumar P, Soccol CR, Nigam P (1999) Solid-State fermentation for the production of industrial enzymes. Curr Sci 77 149-162... 

Until about 1950, the predominant method of producing industrial enzymes was by extraction from animal or plant sources by 1993, this accounts for less than 10%. With the exception of trypsin, chymosin, papain [9001-73-2], and a few others, industrial enzymes are now produced by microorganisms grown in aqueous suspension in large vessels, ie, by fermentation (qv). A small (5%) fraction is obtained by surface culture, ie, solid-state fermentation, of microorganisms (13). 

Solid state fermentation (SSF) can be used to produce the majority of industrial enzymes used currently. It is mainly suited for cultivation of fungi but can also be used with bacteria e.g bacillus sp. to produce thermostable amylase (1). 

Commonly used substrates used for solid state fermentation are Wheat Corn Bran, Soya, Rice, Sugar beet pulp. Tapioca residue, com cobs etc. Wheat bran is used most commonly for industrial enzyme production, followed by beet- pulp. 

Omar IC, Hayashi M, Nagai S (1987) Purification and some properties of a thermostable lipase from Humicola lanuginosa No. 3. Agric Biol Chem 51(1) 37-A5 Pacheco-OUver M, Veeraragavan K, Braendfi E (1990) Separation of colour compounds from lipase in fermentation supernatant by diafiltration. Biotechnol Tech 4(l) 369-372 Pandey A, Selvakumar P, Soccol CR et al. (1999) Solid state fermentation for the production of industrial enzymes. Curr Sci 77(1) 149-162... 

One of the oldest methods, solid-state fermentation or the koji process, uses solid substrates, such as steam sterilized fibers or wheat bran, to cultivate the mold inoculum. This technique has been central to traditional food and beverage fermentations throughout Asia for thousands of years. Today solid-state fermentation is the cultivation method of choice for the commercial production of many enzymes and is gaining popularity in areas including bioremediation, detoxification of agro-industrial waste and biotransformation of crop residues for nutritional enrichment (Pandey et al., 2000 Singhania et al., 2009). 

A bioreactor is a vessel in which biochemical transformation of reactants occurs by the action of biological agents such as organisms or in vitro cellular components such as enzymes. This type of reactor is widely used in food and fermentation industries, in waste treatment, and in many biomedical facilities. There are two broad categories of bioreactors fermentation and enzyme (cell-free) reactors. Depending on the process requirements (aerobic, anaerobic, solid state, immobilized), numerous subdivisions of this classification are possible (Moo-Young, 1986). 

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