Enhancement of L(+)-Lactic acid production of immobilized rhizopus oryzae implanted by ion beams

Immobilized Rhizopus oryzae culturing may be a solution to the inhibited production of L(+)-lactic acid in submerged fermentation, which is caused by aggregated mycelia floc. In the present study, a R. oryzae mutant (RL6041) with a 90% conversion rate of glucose into L-lactic acid was obtained by N ⁺ implantation under the optimized conditions of a beam energy of 15 keV and a dose of 2.6 × 10¹⁵ ions/cm². Using polyurethane foam as the immobilization matrix, the optimal L-lactic acid production conditions were determined as 4 mm polyurethane foam, 150 r/min, 50 g/L ∼ 80 g/L of initial glucose, 38°C and pH 6.0. 15-cycle repeated productions of L-lactic acid by immobilized RL6041 were performed under the optimized culturing conditions and over 80% of the glucose was converted into L-lactic acid in 30 hours on average. The results show that immobilized RL6041 is a promising candidate for continuous L-lactic acid production.