Improved mevinolic acid (MA) production by the immobilized cells, and the establishment of on-line measurement system for fermentation parameters using vent gas analyzer

Mevinolic acid (MA), a secondary metabolite produced by a filamentous fungus Aspergillus terreus, is acidic form of lovastatin which has been identified as a powerful cholesterol-lowering agent in humans. When immobilized cell culture was performed, MA production was about 5.3-fold higher than the parallel suspended cell culture. Although the immobilized cells proliferated slowly during exponential in comparison with the suspended cells, oxygen uptake rate and oxygen mass transfer coefficient of the immobilized cell culture were about 1.3- and 2.5- fold higher respectively than those of the parallel suspended cell culture. From these results, it was concluded that MA biosynthesis was closely dependent on the cell growth rate, morphology and oxygen availability.