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Fermentation is the large-scale cultivation of bacteria or fungi which transform renewable raw materials into chemical products. Fermentation has been used for millennia to produce foods such as dairy products, wine, beer, and sourdough bread. In yogurt production, for example, lactic acid bacteria break down lactose to produce lactic acid. Fermentation is an important focal point in the field of white biotechnology. Fermentation process can be used for the resource-saving production of vitamins and enzymes.
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More vitamin B2 for animals
BASF is a pioneer in the biocatalytic production of vitamin B2. Used in animal nutrition, this vitamin helps to keep the animals healthy and fit. Chemical synthesis was replaced by a biotechnical process in 1990. Since then, BASF has produced vitamin B2 by fermentation using the fungus Ashbya gossypii. This fungus has enzymes with which it can produce vitamin B2. How much it produces depends on the quantity of enzymes and the fungal growth conditions. In cooperation with scientists at the University of Salamanca in Spain, BASF was able to determine which gene is responsible for the production of these enzymes. Acting on these scientific results, the vitamin B2 output could be increased significantly.
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BASF uses special sterile agitated tanks called fermenters for vitamin B2 production. A culture of Ashbya gossypii is placed in the fermenters along with various nutrients, such as vegetable oil, and the temperature is set to the optimum growth temperature for the fungus. The microorganisms replicate and produce vitamin B2. BASF manufactures more than 1,000 metric tons of the vitamin annually and has a 25 percent global market share.
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Reduced phosphorus contamination of the groundwater
Phosphorous is a key element in nutrition. Plant-based animal feeds contain phosphorous in a special storage form called phytate. Phosphorous is released in plants and microorganisms by the enzyme phytase. Pigs and poultry do not possess this enzyme and excrete the phytate unused. This pollutes the groundwater. The enzyme phytase is therefore added to plant-based feeds. The mold species Aspergillus niger can produce phytase in small quantities. The mold was modified by genetic engineering to produce phytase in large quantities. The enzyme is isolated after the fermentative process and supplied in various forms as a feed additive. The phytase in the feed allows the animals to optimally utilize phytate. In this manner, the phosphorus levels in the soil and groundwater are reduced by approximately 30 percent.
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Fungal protein for everyday life
I n BASF research so-called performance proteins are also currently being produced with the methods of white biotechnology. Many proteins with interesting, very promising properties exist in nature. As a result of technical progress in fermentation, a subspecialty of white biotechnology, BASF can now produce some of these proteins on a large scale for the first time - and thus make a contribution to allowing consumers to profit from the special properties of these products that have been inspired by nature. An example for such a new product from BASF research is hydrophobin. This water-repellent protein is normally found on the skin of fungi. There it is responsible for causing rain water to roll off the fungus. Biotechnologists at BASF isolated the gene which is responsible for the production of hydrophobin and transferred it into the bacterium E. coli. As a result BASF is the first company that can produce hydrophobin in industrial quantities. Possible application areas - for example in cleaning agents - are now being tested.
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