On-line estimation of viable biomass of a microaerobic culture using exit gas analysis

Summary A method is proposed to estimate the concentration of metabolically active cells of a microaerobic culture on-line from the measurement of oxygen uptake rate (OUR) and respiratory quotient (RQ). With the cultivation ofEnterobacter aerogenes in a fedbatch mode the estimated active cell concentration agrees well with the viable cell concentration determined by microscopic count and agar plate incubation.