title: Digital image processing as a tool to monitor biomass growth in Aspergillus niger 3T5B8 solid-state fermentation: preliminary results.
abstract: The estimation of biomass is an essential parameter for controlling fermentation processes. However, monitoring biomass growth in filamentous fungi solid-state fermentation is laborious. The aim of this study was to provide a better insight into the monitoring of biomass growth in Aspergillus niger 3T5B8 solid-state fermentation using a digital image-processing technique. The images were acquired with a stereomicroscope and a digital camera, and processed using KS400 software. Growth was evaluated every 24 h for 5 days, and quantified as the total area occupied by the hyphae. The correlation between the results of the proposed methodology and the polygalacturonase data was greater than 0.9, showing that a direct and linear relationship can be expected among these parameters. This work indicates that the digital processing technique can be used for indirect biomass estimation in a solid-state fermentation process.
authors.affiliation: Embrapa/Agroindústria de Alimentos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. scoury@ctaa.embrapa.br
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Couri
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Mercês
authors.forename: B C V
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Senna
mesh_terms: D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000254:growth & development*; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D003470:Culture Media; D005285:Fermentation; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media