Production of natural chitosan from xylose by Actinomucor elegans culture

Abstract

The production of natural chitosan from xylose by Actinomucor elegans culture was investigated. The proportion of two main medium components (corn steep liquor and xylose) was optimized by response surface methodology. The optimal medium components were corn steep liquor 73.0 g/L, xylose 32.0 g/L, KH2PO4 2.0 g/L, MgSO4 2.0 g/L. Under the optimal conditions, the cultivation of Actinomucor elegans was carried out in a 250 mL flask containing 50 mL of medium which the initial pH value was 7.0 at 30 °C on a rotary shaker at 200 r/min, and the inoculum concentration was 6 %. The yield of chitosan reached 1.42 g/L after 48 h. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.