National Science Council

Yuan-Chi Su

Ying-Chieh Tsai

Min-Chang Huang

Shuen-Fuh Lin

The method to produce itaconic acid is a solid-state fermentation method. Sugarcane pressmud or peeled sugarcane pressmud is the support used to adsorb liquid medium for the production of itaconic acid by an,mutant strain. This mutant strain was derived from,ATCC 10020 by successive mutation. Beside the remaining sucrose in the sugarcane pressmud, other carbon source can be added, i.e. glucose, fructose, sucrose, or starch hydrolysate. Appropriate amounts of nitrogen source, such as ammonium nitrate, or ammonium sulfate are added. Mineral salts, such as potassium dihydrogen phosphate, magnesium sulfate, calcium sulfate, ferric chloride, zinc sulfate, and copper sulfate can be added to the medium. The suitable amount of liquid medium that can be added to the support is 4 to 6 times its dry weight for the sugarcane pressmud and 8 to 14 times its dry weight for the peeled sugarcane pressmud. The optimal pH of the medium is between 2.0-3.0. The fermentation temperature is between 30-40 degrees centigrade.

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Yuan-Chi Su