Influence of the pH on the itaconic acid production with Aspergillus terreus

Itaconic acid is mainly produced with the filamentous fungi Aspergillus terreus. An increase in the pH during the production phase of the cultivation resulted in an increase in the itaconic acid concentration. The pH was raised by a single pH shift ranging from pH 4 to 6 or by a pH control to pH 3. Different lyes can be used for the pH shift, but ammonia solution has proven to be the best, because here the productivity does not drop after the pH shift. The highest itaconic acid concentration of 146 g/L was reached when a pH control to pH 3 was started after 2.1 days of cultivation. This is an increase of 68 % to the cultivation without pH control. When this technique was combined with previously found optimizations, a final itaconic acid concentration of 129 g/L was reached after 4.7 days of cultivation, resulting in a productivity of 1.15 g/L/h.