Patent for penicillin production using rotten fruits

An Associate Professor attached to the University of Calicut has got a patent for developing a technology for large-scale industrial production of penicillin, using rotten fruit, vegetable wastes/cereals and pulses, as carbon source, by using solid state fermentation technique.

C. Gopinath attached to the Department of Biotechnology, got the certificate on August 22. According to sources, conventional penicillin production depends on submerged fermentation in stirred tank bioreactors or fermenters using glucose or lactose as carbon source, which is costly.

Moreover, the submerged fermentation involves costly bioreactors with sophisticated process control, forced aeration and agitation using impellers, all of which is highly energy consuming, further enhancing operational costs. The present invention seeks to use any material that has fructose, starch, cellulose as carbon source instead of glucose/lactose, without the use of tank reactors, laboratory costs, etc., thus resulting in an economical production of penicillin.