Culture Medium Optimization and Scale-Up for Microbial Fermentations

The art of fermentation has been around for centuries. Brewing and food-based fermentations were the beginnings of the fermentation industry as we know it today. At the turn of the twentieth century, fermentations were used to make chemicals such as glycerol for the manufacture of explosives. With all that history, the discovery of penicillin may have been the real “coming out” party for the fermentation industry. For the first time in its history, fermentation was used to produce a product with a tangible benefit—saving lives.