Methods for Laboratory Fermentations

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses methods for laboratory fermentations. Fermentation processes applicable to industrial use are first investigated in the laboratory prior to scale-up and development of production processes. The fermentation technologist is an experimental scientist who must design each experiment with great attention to detail. An experiment tests a hypothesis, and the hypothesis should be precisely written and its assumptions and implications thoroughly examined and understood in planning the experiment. In designing a fermentation experiment, one must decide in advance which measurements will be made, how they will be made, and what data format will be required. Subsequently, the screening and selection of an organism for fermentation processes require selective and differential media for detection and isolation of the desired microorganism. A scale-up is the process of increasing the size of a fermentation system to arrive at a full-scale plant fermentation in the most efficient and economical manner. Problems will be encountered and resolved at the small-scale level so that only minor adjustments are necessary at the production-scale level.