Kinetics of inulinase production by solid-state fermentation in a packed-bed bioreactor

In this work the cell growth and inulinase production by Kluyveromyces marxianus NRRL Y-7571 were investigated in a packed-bed bioreactor. For this purpose, seven experimental runs were carried out in order to verify the influence of the inlet air temperature and volumetric air flow rate on the process dynamics. The results showed that the manipulated variables affected significantly the process performance. The best condition for enzyme production was an inlet air temperature and volumetric now rate of 30 degrees C and 3 m(3) h(-1), respectively, reaching an activity of around 463 U gds(-1). The results obtained here can be useful in the scale-up and optimisation of packed-bed bioreactors configuration for inulinase production. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.