Fermentation and Cell Aging Strategy for Arachidonic Acid Production by Mortierella alpina

Abstract:

Mortierella alpina possesses the excellent ability of using starch-based materials to produce arachidonic acid，while the production need to be verified in a fermentor. This study focused on fermentation and cell aging strategy to reduce production cost. Starch liquefaction was applied to improve media rheologyand dissolved oxygen.The results indicated that the best mixing speed and ventilation was 200 r/min and 1∶1，respectively. The study also found that the optimal temperature and aging time was 20 ℃ and 5 d respectively. Cell aging can effectively reduce the production cost while maintaining production. Arachidonic acid production reached 11.7 g/L when the optimal fermentation and cell aging strategy was employed which allowed large-scale production of arachidonic acid by using raw crop meals.