Abstract

PRODUCTION OF LOVASTATIN BY ASPERGILLUS FISCHERI NCIM 509 USING BLACKGRAM HUSK UNDER SOLID STATE FERMENTATION

D. Prasanna Latha* and K. P. J. Hemalatha

Abstract

Production of lovastatin was carried out by Aspergillus fischeri NCIM- 509 using agro-industrial residue blackgram husk, as substrate under solid state fermentation. Lovastatin is a potent hypercholesterolemic drug used for lowering blood cholesterol. In recent years, lovastatin has also been reported as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of various types of tumors and also play a tremendous role in the regulation of the inflammatory and immune response, coagulation process, bone marrow, neovascularization, vascular tone, and arterial pressure. Process parameters like Incubation time (5-days), Temperature (28oC), Moisture content (60%), Inoculum age (4 days), Inoculum volume (40% v/w),pH of the medium(6.0), carbon source (1.5% Lactose) and nitrogen source(2.0% Ammonium Sulphate) were optimized and gave an overall yield of 9.2 mg/gds of lovastatin after optimization.

Keywords: Lovastatin, Aspergillus fischeri, blackgram husk, Solid state fermentation, Process parameters, Optimization.