Effect of Microparticles on Fungal Fermentation for Fermentation-Based Product Productions

Abstract

Ranging from simple food ingredients to complex pharmaceuticals, value-added products via microbial fermentation have many advantages over their chemically synthesized alternatives. Some of such advantages are environment-friendly production pathways, more specificity in the case of enzymes as compared to the chemical catalysts and reduction of harmful chemicals, such as heavy metals or strong acids and bases. Fungal fermentation systems include yeast and filamentous fungal cells based on cell morphology and culture conditions. However, filamentous fungal fermentation has gained attention in the past few decades because of the diversity of microbial products and robust production of some of the most value-added commodities. This type of fungal fermentation is usually carried out by solid-state fermentation. However, solid-state fermentation poses problems during the scale-up for industrial production. Therefore, submerged fermentation for value-added products is usually preferred for scaling-up purposes. The main problem with submerged fungal fermentation is the formation of complex mycelial clumps or pellets. The formation of such pellets increases the viscosity of the media and hinders the efficient transfer of oxygen and nutrient resources in the liquid phase. The cells at the center of the clump or pellet start to die because of a shortage of resources and, thus, productivity decreases substantially. To overcome this problem, various morphological engineering techniques are being researched. One approach is the use of microparticles. Microparticles are inert particles with various size ranges that are used in fermentation. These microparticles are shown to have positive effects, such as high enzyme productivity or smaller pellets with fungal fermentation. Therefore, this review provides a background about the types of microparticles and summarizes some of the recent studies with special emphasis on the fungal morphology changes and microparticle types along with the applications of microparticles in filamentous fungal fermentations.

Amino acid biosynthetic and antioxidant activity of Brevibacterium sp. InaCC B46 using glucose substrate produced by saccharification of oil palm trunk biomass

“…At 24 hours of incubation, the highest amino acid concentration produced was glutamic acid (6.67 µg/mL), followed by alanine (4.87 µg/mL). Brevibacterium sp, Corynebacterium glutamicum, and Escherichia coli are capable of producing a wide range of amino acids, including commercially significant ones such as glutamic acid, methionine, tryptophan, lysine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, leucine, valine, arginine, and histidine [16]. Brevibacterium sp.…”

The potentials and challenges of using fermentation to improve the sensory quality of plant-based meat analogs

“…Fungal mycelium is composed of natural polymers of cellulose, chitin, and proteins, and is considered a natural fibrous material. The basic structure of fungal mycelium is called hyphae, which are formed from fungal spore germination ( Iram et al, 2022 ). Several factors were listed as affecting the fungal hyphal growth and their morphology.…”

“…Several factors were listed as affecting the fungal hyphal growth and their morphology. The diameter, shape, length, and arrangement of hyphae vary between species (Iram et al, 2022). Agitation was shown to negatively impact the hyphae growth and length by either causing pellet breakdown or shaving the hyphae extension (Lejeune, 1996;Cui et al, 1997).…”

Optimization of fungicidal and acaricidal metabolite production by endophytic fungus Aspergillus sp. SPH2

“…The primary challenge in submerged fungal fermentation is the development of intricate mycelial clumps or pellets. The presence of these pellets results in an increased viscosity of the media, which in turn impedes the effective transfer of oxygen and nutrient resources in the liquid phase.. (Iram et al 2022 ). Other factors that play a significant role in the choice of fermentation method, in addition to physical factors, include the availability of the substrate to the fungus, morphology of the fungus, impact of the biofilm, and effects of the mass (Pandey 1992 ).…”