Extracted substrate colour as an indicator of fungal growth in solid state fermentation
- Author:
Musaalbakri Abdul Manan
;
Colin Webb
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Biomass estimation;
solid state fermentation;
colour changes;
Aspergillus awamori;
Aspergillus oryzae
- MeSH:
Biomass;
Fermentation
- From:Malaysian Journal of Microbiology
2016;12(6):445-449
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Aims: In solid state fermentation (SSF), estimation of biomass is difficult as fungal mycelium penetrates deep and
remains attached to the solid substrate particles. This study examines and evaluates a new technique based on
colour changes of fermented substrates during SSF as an indicator for fungal growth.
Methodology and Results: SSF refers to microbial fermentation, which takes place in the absence or near
absence of free water, thus being close to the natural environment in which the selected microorganisms,
especially fungi, are naturally adapted. Although many promising methods are available, the evaluation of microbial
growth in SSF may sometimes become difficult, impractical, and inaccurate. Essentially, this remains another
critical issue for monitoring growth. In this study, measurements of colour changes of fermented substrates during
SSF are used as indicators for growth and this technique has a potential to be used to quantify growth of microbes.
For the growth of Aspergillus awamori and A. oryzae on wheat bran, soybean hulls, and rapeseed meal, it was
confirmed that colour changes were directly proportional to the fungal growth. This new approach is an important
complementation to the existing techniques, especially for basic studies. The advantages of this method are its
ease of use, fast, non-destructive, cheap, and requires no special and expensive reagents. The key finding is that
the colorimetric technique demonstrated in this study provides good means to estimate growth than that obtained
by visual observation or spores counting.
- Full text:P020170203340796134200.pdf
