Long-Term Production of Ergot Peptides by Immobilized Claviceps purpurea in Semicontinuous and Continuous Culture.

The semicontinuous and continuous production of pharmaceutically useful ergot peptides with immobilized Claviceps purpurea could be demonstrated. A key aspect was the presence of high concentrations of CaCl(2) (96.9 mM) to give marked prolongation of the productive phase, and cultivation in a bubble column reactor became possible. Restriction of the phosphate supply avoided an otherwise problematic massive increase of outgrowing hyphae.