A novel multiple reactor system for the long-term production of L-asparaginase by Penicillium sp. LAMAI 505

Abstract

In this paper a novel system of multiple reactors with immobilized cells (MRICs) to produce L-asparaginase by Penicillium sp. LAMAI 505 is presented. The effects of the number of associated reactors, nutrient composition, residence time for nutrient cycling, and extraction cycles were investigated using an artificial neural network (ANN). The ANN model was satisfactory (R² > 0.85 with an error lower than 2.4%) and the MRICs performed well when compared to the literature. The cyclic operation of the MRICs can regenerate cells within the inert support, allowing for the long-term production of L-asparaginase. L-asparaginase activity of 13.7 U/gds was achieved under optimised conditions that included a residence time of 33.5 min, pH of 5.1, and concentrations of L-asparagine and glucose of 1.2 and 3.0 g/L, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrate that MRICs are effective with other fungi and can be used for other products.