ABSTRACT
Investigators were carried out with the aim of producing L-glutamic acid from Brevibacterium sp. by utilizing a locally available starchy substrate, cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). Initial studies were carried out in skate flasks, which showed that even though the yield was high with 85-90 DE (Dextrose Equivalent value), the maximum conversion yield (-34 per cent) was obtained by using only partially digested starch hydrolysate, i.e. 45-50 DE. Fermentations were carried out in batch mode in a 5 L fermenter, using suitably diluted cassava starch hydrolysate, using a 85-90 DE value hydrolysate. Media supplemented with nutrients resulted in an accumulation of 21 g/L glutamic acid with a fairly high (66,3 per cent) conversation yield of glucose to glutamic acid (based on glucose consumed and on 81,74 per cent theoretical conversion rate). The bioreactor conditions most conductive for maximum production were pH 7.5, temperature 30§C and an agitation of 180 rpm. When fermentation was conducted in fed-batch mode by keeping the residual reducing sugar concentration at 5(per cent) w/v, 25,0 g/L of glutamate was obtained after 40 h fermentation (16 per cent more the batch mode). Chromatographic separation by ion-exchange resin was used for the recovery and purification of glutamic acid. It was further crystallized and separated by making use of its low solubility at the isoelectric point (pH 3.2).