Methanol, a simple
polar solvent, has been widely identified as
an attractive carbon source to produce chemicals and fuels in bioprocesses.
Specifically, to achieve recombinant protein production from methylotrophic
yeasts, such as
Pichia pastoris
, this
organic solvent can be used as a sole carbon source for growth and
maintenance as well as an inducer for protein expression. However,
if methanol feeding is not controlled well in such a fermentation
process, accumulation of the solvent in the growth media will have
a detrimental effect on the cells. Hence, monitoring the levels of
methanol in these fermentation processes is a crucial step to ensure
a healthy culture and maximum protein production. There are various
techniques elaborated in the literature for monitoring methanol in
cell cultures, but often, they appear to be expensive methods that
are less affordable for many laboratories. This is because, in addition
to the sophisticated equipment that is required for the analysis,
the complexity of the samples retrieved from the bioprocesses necessitates
laborious processing steps often involving expensive tools. In this
study, a fast, simple, and sensitive method is developed to process
biological samples by using the salting-out-assisted liquid–liquid
extraction technique to quantify the concentration of methanol and
ethanol using gas chromatography. On comparing the combinations of
widely available salts and solvents, it was noticed that salting out
using potassium carbonate followed by the liquid–liquid extraction
of the analyte using ethyl acetate showed the best recovery. Followed
by this, a validation test for the developed method was performed,
which resulted in good peak resolution, linearity, and limit of detection
for the quantitation of methanol and ethanol. By further assessing
the tested combination, it was confirmed that its application could
be extended to other matrices. Such an approach facilitates the possibility
to monitor and control the methanol levels in fermentation and aids
in bioprocess optimization.