CITRIC-ACID PRODUCTION IN SUBMERGED AND SOLID-STATE CULTURE OF ASPERGILLUS-NIGER

In this work, the citric acid production in solid state culture was pe rformed, evaluating the isolated effect and interactions of particle s ize and liquid phase employed, by means of the factorial design of fir st order. The results indicate that the particle size is the most dete rminant variable. An analysis comparing submerged and solid state in o ptimal conditions was performed. When solid state culture was used, th e productivity of citric acid was doubled, reducing the fermentation t ime from 14 to 6 days, compared to the submerged culture, obtaining a maximum citric acid concentration of 21.24 g/l.