Porous alumina beads for immobilization of lactic acid bacteria and its application for repeated-batch fermentation in soy sauce production

Porous alumina beads with controlled pores were prepared for the immobilization of lactic acid bacteria to improve soy sauce productivity, and the alumina support with the highest lactic acid productivity was used for repeated-batch fermentation. Immobilized lactic acid bacteria could be used 5 times in repeated-batch fermentation, where higher productivities were obtained than that in conventional fermentation. The lactic acid fermentation process was mathematically modeled from the material balance and the rate equation. The simulated results agreed with the experimental ones.