Continuous bacteriocin production with high cell density bioreactors

Abstract

The production of divercin, a bacteriocin active against Listeria, by whole cells of Carnobacterium divergens V41 was investigated by three means: continuous cultivation with free cells; with cells immobilized in calcium-alginate bends packed in a plug-flow bioreactor, and with a membrane bioreactor. The productivity and bacteriocin concentrations of the systems were compared. Immobilized cells presented the best performances with more than 105 AU l-1 h-1 which can be compared to the 2.8 x 103 AU l-1 h-1 of the batch system. The membrane bioreactor failed to be efficient for low transmission of the bacteriocin through the membranes tested.