Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2013, Vol. 0 ›› Issue (1): 198-202.

• Research report • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Comparison of Four Methods for Measuring the Biomass of the Cellulase Production Process

Li Chen1,2, He Ronglin2, Wu Gaihong2, Ma Lijuan2, Lu Fuping1, Chen Shulin2   

  1. 1College of Bioengineering,Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457;
    2. Tianjin Key Laboratory for Industrial Biological Systems and Bioprocessing Engineering, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308
  • Received:2012-08-06 Revised:2013-01-31 Online:2013-01-30 Published:2013-01-30

Abstract: Biomass of the cellulase production process with insoluble cellulose as the substrate was measured using mycelial proteindetermination, nucleic acid determination, acid washing and drying method as well as cellulose analyzer application, respectively. Measurementresults of fermentation broth samples indicated that the precision of nucleic acid determination method was the highest with RSD value at 6.32%.This method and cellulose analyzer application method could be used to determine the biomass of the cellulase production process with insolublecellulose as the substrate more accurately. The precision of acid washing and drying method was poorer, but it could be used for routine analysisof biomass due to its simple operation. The mycelial protein determination method was proved to be poorer neither in precision nor in operationsimplicity, and it could be used as the complement of the other three methods. This study provides a basis for selecting method in measuring thebiomass of the cellulase production process with insoluble cellulose as the substrate.

Key words: Cellulose , Cellulase , Biomass , Mycelial protein , Nucleic acid , Acid washing , Cellulose analyzer