Optimization of Process Parameters for Lovastatin Production from Red Gram Bran by Solid State Fermentation

Lovastatin, an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, was produced by solid state fermentation using protoplast fusant culture obtained by interspecific protoplast fusion between wild strains of Aspergillus terreus and Aspergillus flavus. A stable fusant strain was obtained after three times regeneration is used for lovastatin production. Different substrates such as black gram husk, coconut oil cake, corn flour waste, cotton waste, tea dust, groundnut shell, orange epicarp, pineapple epicarp, red gram bran, green gram bran, saw dust, banana peel, soybean meal, sugarcane bagasse and cauliflower leaf waste were studied to optimize the best substrate. The red gram bran showed the highest lovastatin yield of 0.91 mg/g of lovastatin. The physical parameters were optimized for maximum lovastatin production. Red gram bran of particle size 0.6-0.4 mm with the moisture content of 65 % and pH 5.0 after 6 days of incubation with the strain yielded a maximum of 1.08 mg/g of lovastatin