Determining biomass in viscous culture broths of Sclerotium rolfsii during β-glucan production : hexosamine assay as an indirect alternative technique

Abstract

Micro-Kjeldahl determination of protein content in the cells was not suitable for the determination of biomass because of the changing composition of the cells. The significant correlation was found during cultivation between the values of the hexosamine assay and those corresponding to the dry weight method (r = 0.98, slope = 1.04) which showed the validity of both hexosamine and dry weight methods, with the former being a simple, reliable and not time consuming alternative for the biomass estimation of Sclerotium rolfsii during scleroglucan production.