Fermentation

Agritechnology are fermentation specialists. Our laboratories are fully equipped to perform a range of highly controlled aerobic and anaerobic fermentation processes including genuine continuous aerobic fermentation.

We have a select range of fermenters from 2-litre to 10,000-litre capacity. Plus, we have the expertise to predict performance, with reasonable accuracy, as the process is scaled into larger industrially oriented fermenters.

Agritechnology’s fermentation plant is matched with upstream and downstream equipment to facilitate scale up of whole processes.

We are equipped to perform the following fermentation processes:

  • Anaerobic fermentation
  • Aerobic fermentation
  • Continous aerobic fermentation
  • Aseptic aerobic fermentation
  • Pure culture fermentation

Advantages of continous aerobic fermentation
Agritechnology has the technical expertise and the facilities to conduct aseptic aerobic fermentation for extended periods. We apply our process engineering know-how and media design capabilities to enable infection-free fermentation for periods of 12 weeks or more. Clients who need to produce an organism in bulk, such as food grade yeast, wine yeast or probiotics, can benefit from this capability.
The advantages of continuous aerobic fermentation include:

  • Improved productivity over batch production
  • Batch-to-batch variations are eliminated, ie higher quality end product

Fermentation has a range of applications in food and beverage production, waste treatment biofuel production and bioprocessing. For example:

  • Agritechnology has expertise in using yeast to produce alcohol from fermentable sugars through anaerobic fermentation.
  • Aerobic fermentation is useful for water treatment or biomass production.
  • Aseptic aerobic fermentation processes is particularly useful for clients who need to make an organism in bulk, such as for food grade yeast, wine yeast, fungi or probiotics.
  • Pure culture fermentation uses a single species organism to produce either biomass or a metabolite, such as citric acid.

Agritechnology has facilities for performing aerobic and anaerobic fermentation to manufacture a range of specific products. For example, Agritechnology can propagate yeast aerobically for the anaerobic production of fuel ethanol. They supply nutrients for the fermentation process and harvest the resultant products.

Agritechnology has the following fermentation capacity:

  • 10 cubic metre anaerobic fermenters
  • 2 cubic metre continuous process aerobic fermenters