INVESTIGATION OF THE GIBBERELLIC ACID OPTIMIZATION WITH A STATISTICAL TOOL FROM Penicillium variable IN BATCH REACTOR

The culture conditions for gibberellic acid (GA₃) production by the fungus Penicillium variable (P. variable) was optimized using a statistical tool, response surface methodology (RSM). Interactions of culture conditions and optimization of the system were studied using Box–Behnken design (BBD) with three levels of three variables in a batch flask reactor. Experimentation showed that the model developed based on RSM and BBD had predicted GA₃ production with R ²  = 0.987. The predicted GA₃ production was optimum (31.57 mg GA₃/kg substrate) when the culture conditions were at 7 days of incubation period, 21% v/w of inoculum size, and 2% v/w of olive oil concentration as a natural precursor. The results indicated that RSM and BBD methods were effective for optimizing the culture conditions of GA₃ production by P. variable mycelia.