Lovastatin Production byAspergillus terreusUsing Agro-Biomass as Substrate in Solid State Fermentation

Mohammad Faseleh Jahromi,Juan Boo Liang,Yin Wan Ho,Parisa Shokryazdan,Rosfarizan Mohamad,Yong Meng Goh

doi:10.1155/2012/196264

Mohammad Faseleh Jahromi, Juan Boo Liang + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/196264

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Abstract

Ability of two strains of Aspergillus terreus (ATCC 74135 and ATCC 20542) for production of lovastatin in solid state fermentation (SSF) using rice straw (RS) and oil palm frond (OPF) was investigated. Results showed that RS is a better substrate for production of lovastatin in SSF. Maximum production of lovastatin has been obtained using A. terreus ATCC 74135 and RS as substrate without additional nitrogen source (157.07 mg/kg dry matter (DM)). Although additional nitrogen source has no benefit effect on enhancing the lovastatin production using RS substrate, it improved the lovastatin production using OPF with maximum production of 70.17 and 63.76 mg/kg DM for A. terreus ATCC 20542 and A. terreus ATCC 74135, respectively (soybean meal as nitrogen source). Incubation temperature, moisture content, and particle size had shown significant effect on lovastatin production (P < 0.01) and inoculums size and pH had no significant effect on lovastatin production (P > 0.05). Results also have shown that pH 6, 25°C incubation temperature, 1.4 to 2 mm particle size, 50% initial moisture content, and 8 days fermentation time are the best conditions for lovastatin production in SSF. Maximum production of lovastatin using optimized condition was 175.85 and 260.85 mg/kg DM for A. terreus ATCC 20542 and ATCC 74135, respectively, using RS as substrate.

Highlights

Lovastatin is a potent drug for lowering the blood cholesterol and it was the first statin accepted by United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in 1987 as a hypercholesterolemic drug [1]
Results of this study suggest that rice straw (RS) is the better substrate than oil palm frond (OPF) for lovastatin production in solid state fermentation (SSF)
Incubation time additional nitrogen source has no benefit for improvement the lovastatin production, it enhances lignocelluloses degradation by the fungi

Summary

Introduction

Lovastatin is a potent drug for lowering the blood cholesterol and it was the first statin accepted by United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in 1987 as a hypercholesterolemic drug [1]. Lovastatin is a secondary metabolite during the secondary phase (idiophase) of fungi growth [3] This product can be produced by cultures of Penicillium species [4], A. terreus [5,6,7], Monascus species [8, 9], Hypomyces, Doratomyces, Phoma, Eupenicillium, Gymnoascus, and Trichoderma [10]. Different substrates were used for lovastatin production in SSF, including sorghum grain, wheat bran, rice, and corn [5, 7] These substrate materials are normally expensive and are competing with food or feed ingredients for human and livestock.

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