MODELING THE KINETICS OF GROWTH OF ACETOBACTER-ACETI IN DISCONTINUOUSCULTURE - INFLUENCE OF THE TEMPERATURE OF OPERATION

Acetic acid fermentation is the biochemical process by which, under st rict conditions of aerobiosis, Acetobacter aceti oxidises the ethanol contained in alcoholic substrates into acetic acid. This paper studies the effect of temperature on the specific growth rate of the microorg anisms (mu(c)), in particular, the mathematical modelling of this proc ess, with the aim of developing previous studies of the mathematical r elationships between mu(c) of A. aceti and the concentrations of subst rate (ethanol), product (acetic acid) and dissolved oxygen. Until now this relationship has not been widely studied, and only a few studies have looked at the influence of temperature on growth kinetics of this bacteria. We have developed an extensive experimental system, to dete rmine precisely the influence of temperature on the maximum specific g rowth rate.