Factorial Design to Stimulate Biomass Development with Chemically Modified Starch

Abstract

The present study is focused on mathematical modeling by testing the benefits of modified potato starch in the biomass production of microorganisms, such as the fungus type. Microorganisms need a carbon source for the biomass development. In different industries, microorganisms, such as the Penicillium type, are used for the extraction of different important compounds utilized in biotechnologies. The aim of this study is to establish some important parameters in order to stimulate the biomass production in the presence of chemically modified starch. The carbon sources used in this research are glucose, native potato starch, and chemically modified potato starch. The chemical modification of potato starch was realized with green chemical compounds in order to not influence biomass development. The chemical characterization of starch and modified starch was important in order to confirm the chemical modification of starch. The response function in mathematical modeling is the amount of biomass developed when there are varied parameters. The varied parameters for the factorial design are as follows: time of biomass development, mass report of glucose:starch (G:S), and mass report of glucose:modified starch (G:MS). The results obtained for the optimal values are as follows: 6 days for the biomass development, 1:1.35 for the mass report of G:S, and 1:1.27 for the report of G:MS.