Application of near-infrared spectroscopy technology in the complex fermentation system to achieve high-efficiency production

The fermentation process is dynamically changing, and the metabolic status can be grasped through real-time monitoring of environmental parameters. In this study, a real-time and on-line monitoring experiment platform for substrates and products detection was developed based on non-contact type near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technology. The prediction models for monitoring the fermentation process of lactic acid, sophorolipids (SLs) and sodium gluconate (SG) were established based on partial least-squares regression and internal cross-validation methods. Through fermentation verification, the accuracy and precision of the NIR model for the complex fermentation environments, different rheological properties (uniform system and multi-phase inhomogeneous system) and different parameter types (substrate, product and nutrients) have good applicability, and R2 was greater than 0.98, exhibiting a good linear relationship. The root mean square error of prediction shows that the model has high credibility. Through the control of appropriate glucose concentration in SG fermentation as well as glucose and oil concentrations SLs fermentation by NIR model, the titers of SG and SLs were increased to 11.8% and 26.8%, respectively. Although high cost of NIR spectrometer is a key issue for its wide application in an industrial scale. This work provides a basis for the application of NIR spectroscopy in complex fermentation systems.