Solid State and Submerged Fermentation for the Production of Bioactive Substances: a Comparative Study

Fermentation has been widely used for the production of a wide variety of substances that are highly beneficial to individuals and industry. Over the years, fermentation techniques have gained immense importance due to their economic and environmental advantages. Ancient techniques have been further modified and refined to maximize productivity. This has also involved the development of new machinery and processes. Two broad fermentation techniques have emerged as a result of this rapid development: Submerged Fermentation (SmF) and Solid State Fermentation (SSF). Discovery of the beneficial activity of several secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms (bioactive compounds) has resulted in the further exploration of fermentation as a production technique for these compounds. At the research level, both SSF and SmF have been used; however, some techniques yielded better results than others. Much work still needs to be done to identify the best fermentation technique for each bioactive compound. This paper reviews different fermentation techniques for the production of bioactive compounds. Comparison of these techniques for the identification of the better technique is also dealt with.