Production of Microbial Pigment in a Bioreactor
摘要
The market demand for pigment is increasing year by year. It is expected by 2026 that the increase can rise to USD 54.64 billion, with an increase of 4.9% yearly. Microorganisms are useful biofactories, capable of producing important primary and secondary metabolites, including pigments. Pigments can be produced via fungi, yeast, and bacteria. These natural microbial pigments are very promising due to the various advantages such as positive health benefits in compared to the negative health effects by synthetic colorants. Furthermore, microbial pigments have a higher yield, no seasonal variations, fast-growing species, and can be scaled-up in bioreactors. In addition, parameters such as carbon source, nitrogen source, pH, temperature, aeration, and moisture content are the key parameters fostering high-yield microbial pigment. Incorporating a bioreactor into the process could improve pigment production, especially to meet the industrial demand. The bioreactor is used to regulate the fermentation process’s environmental conditions, such as agitation intensity, aeration, medium pH, and temperature. This chapter focuses on the key parameters involved and various microorganisms that generate pigments in bioreactors.