Production of Penicillin in Batch Culture - Lab Report Example

PRACTICE REPORT Name: Student No: Unit Name: 23rd September, 2011 Experiment 2 Title: PRODUCTION OF PENICILLIN IN BATCH CULTURE Abstract: This is a report on an experiment that aimed at establishing the effect of phenoxyacetic acid on production of penicillin by use of Penicillium chrysogenum. The experiment used different methods to determine the growth of cell mass and penicillin V production to show the effect of phenoxyacetic acid. Methods used are; Batch culture technology and Packed Mycelial Volume Determination, Hydroxylamine Colorimetric Method of penicillin determination and Sarcina Disc Assay of penicillin detection. Results show conformance to actual batch process of penicillin production where phenoxyacetic acid is a precursor in production of penicillin V and production rate is highest at stationary phase of culture growth. Without phenoxyacetic acid, no penicillin is produced. Introduction: Penicillin is produced through the process of fermentation where the environment is controlled, contained and made homogeneous so that fermentation process is safe and achieves the aims of the fermentation. In this experiment, the aim is to produce penicillin. The fermentation process has to have specific nutrients, controls and medium to ensure production of a specific type of penicillin. Penicillin is produced from Penicillium chrysogenum, but addition of a specific precursor determines the type of penicillin to be produced. When phenoxyacetic acid is added to the culture, Penicillin V is produced. If phenoxyacetic acid is used, the end product is Penicillin G (Practical Guidelines and O’Hare & White, n. d, p. 5). In this experiment, the aim is to produce Penicillin V, which means phenoxyacetic acid will be added to the culture. The experiment investigated the growth of cell mass with time and the production of Penicillin in the presence and absence of phenoxyacetic acid. From such investigations, the time for penicillin production was determined as well as the effect of phenoxyacetic acid on its production. Aim: “The aim of this experiment is to study growth and the production of penicillin by Penicillium chrysogenum with and without addition of the penicillin precursor phenoxyacetic acid” (Practical Guidelines Report). Method: Experiment 2 pg. 15 Results: Penicillin Concentration (µg/m) Absorbance at 515 nm 0.046 0 0.122 0.5 0.185 1   1.5   2   2.5 0.459 3   3.5   4   4.5 0.706 5   5.5   6   6.5   7 Y= 7.6525x – 0.4411 X= 0.4411+ y/7.6525 Results: Penicillin Assay by the Hydroxylamine Colorimetric Method Column1 Column2 Column3 Column4   Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 sample A (Without) 0.382 0.316 0.42 0.46 sample A (With) 0.367 0.215 0.306 0.299 Values for pen conc 0.015 0.101 0.104 0. 161 sample B3 (Without) 0.444 0.496 0.232 0.213 sample B3 (With) 0.272 0.555 0.334 0.267 Values for pen conc 0.172 -0.059 -0.102 -0.054 Sample B4 (Without) 0.311 0.393 0.337 0.321 Sample B4 (With) 0.312 0.375 0.271 0.302 Values for pen conc -0.001 0.018 0.066 0.019           X= 0.4411+ y _______________ 7.6525 Penicillin Concentration (µg/ml) (Readings obtained from the formula) Column1 Penicillin Concentration (µg/ml) (Readings obtained from Sheet 1) Column2 Column3 Column4 Days Sample A Sample B3 Sample B4 Average of Sample B3 and 4 1 0.055 0.081 0.0575 0.069 2 0.071 0.050 0.06 0.055 3 0.072 0.044 0.066 0.055 4 0.079 0.051 0.060 0.056 Days With phenoxyacetic acid [A] Without phenoxyacetic acid [B] 0 0 0 1 0.055 0.069 2 0.071 0.055 3 0.072 0.055 4 0.079 0.056 culture. Read More