Lovastatin production by Aspergillus terreus in solid state and submerged fermentations

Lovastatin production by Aspergillus terreus indigenous strains in submerged (SmF) and solid state fermentations (SSF) have been studied. To evaluate the ability to produce lovastatin various cultivation media and substrates have been used. The obtained data showed good lovastatin yield by A. terreus 4 and A. terreus 20 both in SmF and SSF. At submerged cultivation of A. terreus 4 and A. terreus 20 on five different glucose and lactose based media the highest titer of lovastatin has been obtained on lactose based media, namely 276 mg/l and 236 mg/l, respectively. Five various types of bran have been tested as solid substrates for production of lovastatin in SSF - wheat bran, oat bran, maize bran, rice bran and mix of wheat and peanut bran. It has been observed that fermentation of A. terreus 4 on wheat and A. terreus 20 on oat bran causes the highest lovastatin yield - 9.7 and 9.56 mg/g, respectively.Keywords: lovastatin, submerged fermentation, solid state fermentation, production