Industrial Fermentation and Bioprocessing
Industrial fermentation and bioprocessing scale up microbial cultivation in engineered bioreactors to manufacture a wide range of products from inexpensive raw materials.
Definition
Industrial fermentation and bioprocessing is the controlled, large-scale cultivation of microorganisms or their components to manufacture products and the engineering of the processes by which those products are made and recovered.
Scope
This topic covers the design and operation of bioreactors; the distinction between primary and secondary metabolites; batch, fed-batch, and continuous processes; strain selection and improvement; control of conditions such as aeration, temperature, and pH; and downstream recovery and purification of products. It treats microbial cultivation as an engineering discipline built on physiological principles.
Core questions
- How are microbes grown at industrial scale?
- What distinguishes primary from secondary metabolite production?
- How are bioreactor conditions controlled to maximize yield?
- How are products recovered from a fermentation?
Key concepts
- Bioreactor design and operation
- Primary versus secondary metabolites
- Batch, fed-batch, and continuous fermentation
- Strain selection and improvement
- Downstream processing
Mechanisms
In a bioreactor, conditions such as nutrient supply, oxygen, temperature, and pH are controlled to favor growth and product formation. Primary metabolites accumulate during active growth, whereas secondary metabolites, such as many antibiotics, are typically produced after growth slows. Process strategies, including fed-batch addition of substrate, optimize yield, and downstream processing separates and purifies the product from the culture.
Clinical relevance
Industrial fermentation produces antibiotics, enzymes, organic acids, amino acids, vitamins, and recombinant proteins on a large scale, and the principles of bioprocessing underpin the manufacture of many pharmaceuticals, foods, and industrial chemicals.
History
Large-scale microbial processes developed from traditional fermentation crafts into a science-based industry in the twentieth century, with milestones such as the industrial acetone-butanol fermentation and the wartime scale-up of penicillin production establishing the methods of modern bioprocessing.
Key figures
- Louis Pasteur
- Chaim Weizmann
Related topics
Seminal works
- madigan2018
- willey2020
Frequently asked questions
- What is a secondary metabolite?
- A secondary metabolite is a microbial product not required for growth that is typically made after active growth slows. Many antibiotics are secondary metabolites, which is why their production in fermentation often peaks in later stages of cultivation.