Citric acid production in submerged and solid state culture of Aspergillus niger

Abstract

In this work, the citric acid production in solid state culture was performed, evaluating the isolated effect and interactions of particle size and liquid phase employed, by means of the factorial design of first order. The results indicate that the particle size is the most determinant variable. An analysis comparing submerged and solid state in optimal conditions was performed. When solid state culture was used, the productivity of citric acid was doubled, reducing the fermentation time from 14 to 6 days, compared to the submerged culture, obtaining a maximum citric acid concentration of 21.24 g/l.