Evaluation of biomass

Evaluation of biomass concentration is an important problem encountered in many microbial and other bioprocesses. It determines the catalytic activity of the microbial cell in a given time. Various direct and indirect methods for the estimation of biomass have been developed using physical and biochemical techniques. Despite many promising classical methods available, the evaluation of microbial growth in bioprocesses may sometimes become laborious, impracticable and give erroneous values. Various methods for enumeration of organisms and determination of biomass, including recent developments in monitoring biomass concentration for the control of biotechnological processes, are discussed taking into the consideration their practical importance, usefulness and constraints in application.