Enhancing penicillin fermentations by increased oxygen solubility through the addition of n-hexadecane.

n-Hexadecane was added to fermentation media to increase the medium oxygen solubilities, thus enhancing oxygen transfer rates in penicillin fermentations. For shake flask fermentations, cells were found to grow faster in the flasks with n-hexadecane than those without. The addition of n-hexadecane to penicillin fermentations was shown to significantly increase cell growth and penicillin production and reduce formation of mycelial pellets. The result was attributed to the enhancement of oxygen transfer in mycelial fermentations due to the higher oxygen solubilities of fermentation media achieved by adding n-hexadecane.