13.penicillin Fermentation

“EXTRACTION &
PURIFICATION of
PENICILLIN”
What Is Penicillin?
• A class of antibiotics that comes from mold.

• Discovered by accident in 1928 by Alexander
Fleming, is the first anitbiotic.
• Penicillin antibiotics include ampicillin,
phenoxymethylpenicillin, amoxicillin, 1st-4th
generations.
• 50 drugs that are now classified as penicillin.
• Use in WWII and after.
How Penicillin Works?
• Resembles a protein needed for production of

cell wall.
• Penicillin binds to cell wall of bacteria,
prevents peptide chains from linking, and
lyses it.
PRODUCTION OF PENICILLIN
 During world war II-
importance realized, as
penicillin had been used
to treat many wounded
soldiers.
A tale by A. Fleming
• The first antibiotic was discovered in 1896 by
Ernest Duchesne and "rediscovered" by
Alexander Flemming in 1928 from the
filamentous fungus Penicilium notatum.
• In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish
biologist, observed that Penicillium notatum, a
common mold, had destroyed staphylococcus
bacteria in culture.
A tale by A. Fleming
• He took a sample of the mold
from the contaminated plate.
He found that it was from the
Penicillium family, later
specified as Penicillium
notatum. Fleming presented
his findings in 1929, but they
raised little interest. He
published a report on penicillin
and its potential uses in the
British Journal of
Experimental Pathology.
• Thanks to work by Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), Howard
Florey ( 1898-1968) and Ernst Chain (1906-1979), penicillin
was first produced on a large scale for human use in 1943.
At this time, the development of a pill that could reliably
kill bacteria was a remarkable development and many lives
were saved during World War II because this medication
was available.
A. Fleming E. Chain H. Florey

MOA OF PENICILLIN
• All penicillin like antibiotics inhibit
synthesis of peptidoglycan, an
essential part of the cell wall.
• They do not interfere with the
synthesis of other intracellular
components.
• These antibiotics do not affect
human cells because human cells do
not have cell walls.
Spectrum of Activity
• Penicillins are active against Gram positive
bacteria
• Some members (e.g. amoxicillin) are also
effective against Gram negative bacteria but
not Pseudomonas aeruginosa
PRODUCTION OF PENICILLIN
• Penicillin was the first important commercial
product produced by an aerobic, submerged
fermentation
• First antibiotic to have been manufacture in bulk.
• Used as input material for some semi synthetic
antibiotics.
• It is fermented in a batch culture, and a fed batch
process is normally used to prolong the
stationary period and so increase production.
• When penicillin was first made at the end
of the second world war using the fungus
Penicillium notatum, the process made 1
mg dm-3.
• Today, using a different species (P.

chrysogenum) and better extraction
procedures the yield is 50 g dm-3.
• There is a constant search to improve the

yield.
The yield of penicillin can be increased by:
• Improvement in composition of the medium.

• Isolation of better penicillin producing mold
sp. Penicillium chrysogenum which grow
better in huge deep fermentation tank.
• Development of submerged culture technique
for cultivation of mold in large volume of
liquid medium through which sterile air is
forced.
Primary and Secondary Metabolites
• Primary metabolites are produced during

active cell growth, and secondary metabolites
are produced near the onset of stationary
phase.
Commercial Production Of Penicillin
• Like all antibiotics,

penicillin is a
secondary
metabolite, so is
only produced in
the stationary
phase.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION OF
ANTIBIOTIC- PENICILLIN
• The industrial production of penicillin was

broadly classified in to two processes namely,
• Upstream processing
• Downstream processing
UPSTREAM PROCESSING
• Upstream processing encompasses any

technology that leads to the synthesis of a
product. Upstream includes the exploration,
development and production.
DOWNSTREAM PROCESSING
• The extraction and purification of a
biotechnological product from fermentation is
referred to as downstream processing.
UPSTREAM PROCESSING
INOCULUM PREPARATION
• The medium is designed to provide the
organism with all the nutrients that it requires.
• Inoculation method- submerged technique
• Spores -major source of inoculum

RAW MATERIALS
• CARBON SOURCES:
Lactose acts as a very satisfactory carbon compound, provided that is used
in a concentration of 6%. Others such as glucose & sucrose may be used.
NITROGEN SOURCES:
• Corn steep liquor (CSL)
• Ammonium sulphate and ammonium acetate can be used as nitrogenous
sources.
MINERAL SOURCES:
Elements namely potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulphur, zinc and
copper are essential for penicillin production. Some of these are applied
by corn steep liquor.
• Calcium can be added in the form of chalk to counter the natural acidity of
CSL
• PAA- precursor
FERMENTATION PROCESS
• The medium is inoculated with a suspension
of conidia of Penicillium chrysogenum.
• The medium is constantly aerated and
agitated, and the mould grows throughout as
pellets.
• After about seven days, growth is complete,
the pH rises to 8.0 or above, and penicillin
production ceases
STAGES IN DOWNSTREAM PROCESSING
• Downstream processing is relatively easy since penicillin is

secreted into the medium (to kill other cells), so there is
no need to break open the fungal cells.
• However, the product needs to be very pure, since it being

used as a therapeutic medical drug, so it is dissolved and
then precipitated as a potassium salt to separate it from
other substances in the medium.
Removal of cells
• The first step in product recovery is the separation of whole

cells and other insoluble ingredients from the culture broth
by technique such as filtration and centrifugation.
ISOLATION OF BENZYL PENICILLIN
• The PH is adjusted to 2-2.5 with the help of phosphoric or

sulphuric acids.
• In aqueous solution at low PH values there is a partition
coefficient in favor of certain organic solvents such as butyl
acetate.
• This step has to be carried out quickly for penicillin is very
unstable at low PH values.
• Antibiotic is then extracted back into an aqueous buffer at a
PH of 7.5, the partition coefficient now being strongly in favor
of the aqueous phase. The resulting aqueous solution is again
acidified & re-extracted with an organic solvent.
• These shifts between the water and solvent help in the
purification of penicillin.
• The treatment of the crude penicillin extract varies
according to the objective, but involves the formation of
an appropriate penicillin salt.
• The solvent extract recovered in the previous stage is

carefully extracted back with aqueous sodium hydroxide.
• This is followed by charcoal treatment to eliminate

pyrogens and by sterilization.
• Pure metal salts of penicillin can be safely sterilized by dry

heat, if desired. Thereafter, the aqueous solution of
penicillin is subjected to crystallization.
FURTHER PROCESSING
• For parental use, the antibiotic is packed in sterile vials as
a powder or suspension.
• For oral use, it is tabletted usually now with a film
coating.
• Searching tests (ex: for purity, potency) are performed
on the appreciable number of random samples of the
finished product.
• It must satisfy fully all the strict government standards
before being marketed
The main stages of Penicillin production
are:
PRODUCTS:
• The resulting penicillin (called penicillin G) can
be chemically and enzymatically modified to
make a variety of penicillins with slightly
different properties.
• These semi-synthetic penicillins include

penicillin V, penicillin O, ampicillin and
amoxycillin.
PRODUCTION OF PENICILLIN V
• Phenoxy methyl penicillin
• Addition of different Acyl groups to the
medium.
• Phenoxyacetic acid as precursor instead of
phenyl acetic acid.

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“EXTRACTION &

• A class of antibiotics that comes from mold.

• Resembles a protein needed for production of

A. Fleming E. Chain H. Florey

• Today, using a different species (P.

• There is a constant search to improve the

• Improvement in composition of the medium.

• Primary metabolites are produced during

• Like all antibiotics,

• The industrial production of penicillin was

• Upstream processing encompasses any

• Inoculation method- submerged technique

• Spores -major source of inoculum

• Downstream processing is relatively easy since penicillin is

• However, the product needs to be very pure, since it being

• The first step in product recovery is the separation of whole

• The PH is adjusted to 2-2.5 with the help of phosphoric or

• The solvent extract recovered in the previous stage is

• This is followed by charcoal treatment to eliminate

• Pure metal salts of penicillin can be safely sterilized by dry

• These semi-synthetic penicillins include

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