Microorganisms are used to produce a large quantity of enzymes for industrial use and many are cultivated in a liquid growth medium.
The product enzyme is conceived by two steps: bioprocess step, which defines the production of the enzyme in the fermenter, then the Downstream step, which is responsible for the separation and concentration of the enzyme.To produce enzymes in a large scale, it is needed to study first the lab scale to determine the production parameters of the product. These vital parameters to be addressed in the development of the production bioprocess are:
1. Growth Medium study: We focus on low cost mediums which support the high productivity of the microorganism. Mediums based on industrial waste are more attractive due to the low cost allied with the high content of nutrients. Because of this, Verdartis focuses on the use of these mediums.2. Study of the operations conditions of the bioreactors: Verdartis evaluates the production of enzymes in a conventional bioreactor, stirred tank, and its conditions of operation such as stirring, aeration and pH control strategy.
The Downstream step involves the processing of the growth medium, by a set of unitary operations.The first step of the processing is taking the cells of the growth medium, which can be done by centrifugation or filtration. After this initial step occurs the separations and purification of the enzymes, by extraction techniques using solvents, chromatography and ultrafiltration among others.
Particularly, the ultrafiltration process can be used to increase the concentration of the enzyme and to decrease the volume of the product, taking in consideration the logistics or even the drying of the enzyme, which can be done using a lyophilizer or by spray dryer among others.
Currently Verdartis is developing bioprocesses for Escherichia coli, Aspergillus nidulans, Trichodermas and Pichia pastoris.