Application of fed-batch culture to citric acid production by Aspergillus niger: The effects of dilution rate and dissolved oxygen tension.

Studies in conventional batch culture confirmed that the maximum citric acid production rate occurred prior to exhaustion of the growth-limiting nutrient, i.e., when the growth rate was nonzero. The effects of dilution rate and the culture dissolved oxygen tension (DOT) were studied in chemostat culture. Maximum citric acid yield and production rate were observed at low dilution rate (0.017 h(-1)) and high DOT value (90% of saturation). These findings were applied to a nitrogen-limited fed batch culture, and allowed a productivity increase of 100% when compared with conventional batch culture.