Determination of Glucose Concentration in Anaerobic Acidification Cultures by Portable Glucose Monitoring System

In mixed microbial fermentation, sugar concentration should be monitored regularly in order to evaluate the effectiveness of fermentation process. Anaerobic acidification fermentation is the process involving microbes to convert the soluble carbohydrate (e.g. glucose) derived from the hydrolysis of insoluble carbohydrates (e.g. starch). The determination of glucose during the fermentation is essential in order to evaluate the mass balance of electron transfer from the oxidation of glucose to the fermentation end-products (e.g. organic acids and alcohols). The fast and practical measurements of glucose concentration in the fermentation broth are highly required to evaluate and ensure the stability of fermentation process. The results showed that once glucose as a soluble sugar is available in the fermentation broth, it was accurately measured by GlucoDr blood glucose biosensor. The standard curve of glucose solution showed the linear relationship between glucometer reading and glucose concentration in which the coefficient determination obtained was at about 0.99. This indicated that glucose analysis with using GlucoDr blood glucose biosensor was accurate and reproducible.