Mycophenolic Acid Production: Investigation of the Effects of Enzymatically Hydrolyzed Casein Concentration on Product Yield and Productivity

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is an antibiotic and immunosuppressive drug produced by Penicillium strains as a secondary extracellular metabolite. In this work, the effect of some various concentrations of enzymatically hydrolyzed casein on mycophenolic acid yield and process productivity was studied. The first, a base medium was applied for mycophenolic acid production by Penicillium brevicompactum MUCL 19011 in shake flask. The maximum MPA production, product yield and productivity of process were 1.379 g/L, 18.6 mg/g glucose and 4.9 mg/L. h, respectively. Then, in the next step, MPA production process was evaluated using various concentrations of enzymatically hydrolyzed casein. Maximum MPA production, product yield and productivity as 3.72 g/L, 50.3 mg/g glucose and 13.28 mg/L. h, respectively, were obtained using 26 g/L enzymatically hydrolyzed casein. These values show an enhanced MPA production, product yield and process productivity as 169.8%.