Microbial Production of Lysine Using Whey Permeate and Molasses

Lysine is nutritionally essential for humans and animals. It cannot be synthesized biologically in body. Children and growing animals have a high requirement of lysine, since it is needed for bone formation. Therefore, it must be added to food and feed supplement to improve the protein quality. In addition, lysine has some pharmaceutical applications in the formulation of diets with balanced amino acid composition. Chemical, enzymatic and biotechnological processes have been used to synthesize lysine. However, biotechnological methods (fermentation) seem to be the most economical and practicable means of producing lysine. In the present study, production of lysine by Brevibacterium linens PTCC 1603 from whey and molasses medium, in the purpose of using agricultural by-products as low-cost sources for production of value-added products, was investigated. Whey medium was prepared by hydrolyzing of lactose with HCl and molasses medium was prepared by addition of some chemicals to it. The production of lysine was examined qualitatively and quantitatively using ascending thin layer chromatography (TLC) and spectrophotometry. Results showed that lysine concentration in both media was increased significantly by the time. The highest concentration of lysine produced from whey and molasses media were 11.8 and 10.5 g.L-1, respectively. Increasing lysine concentration resulted in pH increment in molasses medium, while the pH of whey medium was decreased. After 6 days of fermentation, the amount of lysine in whey medium was significantly higher than in molasses medium.