Continuous glutamate production using an immobilized whole-cell system

Abstract

For the purpose of saving energy and raw materials required in glutamate fermentation, an immobilized whole-cell system was prepared, and its performance in a continuous reactor system was evaluated. Corynebacterium glutamicum (a mutant strain of ATCC 13058) whole cell was immobilized in kappa -carrageenan matrix, and the gel structure was strengthened by treatment with a hardening agent. The effect of the dilution rate on glutamate production and operational stability were investigated. The performance of the continuous whole-cell reactor system was evaluated by measuring glutamate productivity for a period of 30 days; it was found to be far superior to the performance of conventional batch reactor systems using free cells.