Kitchen Waste as a Novel Available Substrate for Prodigiosin Production by Serratia Marcescense

Abstract

As a compound with antitumor activities, prodigiosin was produced by Serratia marcescens with kitchen waste as a substrate. The initial yield of prodigiosin was 223mg/l and can be further improved with supplementation of nitrogen source and inductor to the medium. A 290% increase of the prodigiosin production was achieved with 1% peptone and 0.2% proline. Physiological fermentation factors such as incubation time (36h), substrate concentration (35g/l), pH of the medium (pH 8.0), and fermentation parameter such as temperature (28?), agitation speed (150rpm), inoculum level (1%), and liquid volume (20/150ml) all have impact on the prodigiosin production. With optimization, the maximum prodigiosin yield was 890mg/l and kitchen waste was proved to be a novel and economic substrate for prodigison production.