Of 68 Aspergillus terreus, three produced lovastatin with equivalent o
r better yield than strain ATCC 20542 originally described for lovasta
tin production. Medium optimization experiments with the best isolate
(TUB F-514) indicated that lactose, rapeseed meal and KNO3 were the be
st carbon, organic nitrogen and inorganic nitrogen sources, respective
ly. In shake-flasks with optimized medium containing 4% (w/v) lactose,
400 mu g lovastatin/ml was produced, with a yield of 10 mg/g lactose.
In solid substrate fermentation on extracted sweet sorghum pulp suppl
emented with cheese whey 1500 mu g lovastatin/g dry weight was produce
d with a yield of 37.5 mg/g lactose.