Products of Biochemical
Engineering
How long ago?
• Sumerians and
Babylonians were
brewing before 6000
BC (evidence in
pyramids)
• Egyptians “let my
people go” were
baking before 4000
BC
• Distilleries? 14th C.
Ancient biotechnologies
• vinegar for fries...
acetic acid bacteria
• lactic acid to acidify
milk... yogurt
• cheese to stabilize
milk... bacteria and
molds
Industrial age
• glycerol fermentation developed by
german biochemist Carl Neuberg during
WW1
• butanol/acetone fermentation developed
by chemist Chaim Weizmann using
Clostridium acetobutylicum
Antibiotics
• folk medicine: moldy
cheese, meat, bread
• Tyndall, Pasteur,
Roberts noted
antagonistic effects of
one organism on
another... 1870’s
Alexander Fleming
• noted that Penicillium
notatum contaminant
killed culture of
Staphylococcus
aureus (1928)
• penicillin production
reality in 1941
Penicillin
• prepared in highly dilute, impure and
unstable solutions prior to WWII
• up to 1943, batch purification process that
inactivated up to 65%
• Shell chemical engineers build pilot plant
that processed 750 L broth/day with 85%
recovery
more on penicillin
• 1943 – 4,100 patients/month
• 1944 – 250,000 patients/month
• MIT chemical engineers built
first production plant involving
freeze drying technologies in
1942/43
Bugs on steroids?
• the superbug: td = 10 to 15 min
Classes of industrial microbes
• bacteria
• molds (fungi)
• yeast (fungi)
• actinomycetes
Prowhat?
• Procaryotes – nuclear
region, single strand
of ds-DNA
– bacteria,
actinomycetes, bluegreen algae
• Eucaryotes – nucleus,
multiple
chromosomes
Other industrial cultures
• tissue culture:
mammalian, insect...
• plant tissue culture
Classes of products
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•
•
•
Microbial cells
Large molecules (104 – 106 daltons)
Primary metabolites (essential for growth)
Secondary metabolites (who knows why?)
Microbial cells
• single cell protein
• yeasts used in
brewing, baking
Microbial cells
• cells used in bioconversion,
biotransformation reactions
– ethanol --- acetic acid (Babylon, 5000
BC)
– isopropanol --- acetone
– sorbitol --- sorbose (manufacture of
vit.C)
– steroid transformations
– fumarate --- malate
Large molecules
• enzymes as catalysts
– amylases in brewing,
baking, textiles
– proteases in brewing,
meat tenderizing,
detergents, leather
(rennin)
Enzymes as catalysts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ambient T and P (low energy)
water solvent
few side reactions (no by-products)
highly specific for substrate
high yields possible
costly and can be unstable
difficult to separate and reuse
High fructose corn syrup
corn starch (α1,4 glucose)
liquefaction (α-amylase)
soluble dextrins
(oligosaccharides)
saccharifaction (glucamylase)
glucose syrup
isomerization (glucose isomerase)
fructose syrup (50/50)
Polysaccharides
• Xanthan from
Xanthomonas
campestris
• food additives as
stabilizers, thickeners,
emulsifiers
• drilling muds
Pullulan
• polysaccharide produced by
Aureobasidium pullulans
(fungus)
• edible and biodegradable films
(low O2 permeability)
Primary metabolites
• amino acids: L-glutamic acid, L-lysine
• purine nucleotides: IMP (inosine
5’monophosphate)
• vitamins: riboflavin, B12
• organic acids: citric, gluconic, fumarate,
malate
• solvents: ethanol, 2,3 butanediol
• plants in Ontario (4)
and Quebec (1)
Secondary metabolites
• antibiotics: bacitracin,
erythromycin
• toxins: mycotoxins
• alkaloids
• growth factors
• pigments, flavours,
fragrances
Were you paying attention?
• Big Mac sauce: soybean oil,
pickles, vinegar, water, sugar
egg yolks, high fructose corn
syrup, mustard, salt, xanthan,
potassium sorbate, spice, soy,
corn and wheat protein, EDTA
• water, glucosefructose syrup, colour,
phosphoric acid,
natural flavours,
caffeine
water, glucose-fructose,
citric acid, tea, lemon flavour
chicken broth, egg noodles, water
chicken, salt, chicken fat, corn starch
monosodium glutamate, onion,
yeast extract, spice, beta carotene,
garlic
sorbitol, water, silica, glycerin,
sodium alkyl sulfate,
polyethylene glycol-6, flavour,
xanthan, saccharin, triclosan,
carbopol 956, titanium dioxide,
sodium fluoride, tetrasodium
pyrophosphate