Continuous bacteriocin production with high cell density bioreactors

The production of divercin, a bacteriocin active against Listeria, by whole cells of Carnobacterium divergens V41 was investigated by three means: continuous cultivation with free cells; with cells immobilized in calciumalginate beads packed in a plug-flow bioreactor, and with a membrane bioreactor. The productivity and bacteriocin concentrations of the systems were compared. Immobilized cells presented the best performances with more than 10 5 AU l −1 h −1 which can be compared to the 2.8 × 10 3 AU l −1 h −1 of the batch system. The membrane bioreactor failed to be efficient for low transmission of the bacteriocin through the membranes tested.