PRODUTION OF THE MICROBIAL GELLAN BY SPHINGOMONAS PAUCIMOBILIS BACTERIA. 1. OPTIMIZATION OF THE PHYSICAL CULTURAL CONDITIONS

The purpose of this study was to find the optimal physical cultural condition to produce the microbial exopolysaccharide, gellan, by the bacteria Sphingomonas paucimobilis in laboratory media using batch culture method. The physical cultural conditions included incubation period, inoculums size, initial pH, incubation temperature, as well as, agitation speed using basal cultural medium. Results indicated that the optimum incubation period for gellan production was 48 hrs, inoculums size was 10% of media, the pH optimum was 7.0, and the incubation temperature was 30oc, while the agitation speed was 250 rpm. Results also showed that gellan production was largely cell growth dependant as indicated by dry mass weight.