On-line infrared spectroscopy for bioprocess monitoring

One of the major aims of bioprocess engineering is the real-time monitoring of important process variables. This is the basis of precise process control and is essential for high productivity as well as the exact documentation of the overall production process. Infrared spectroscopy is a powerful analytical technique to analyze a wide variety of organic compounds. Thus, infrared sensors are ideal instruments for bioprocess monitoring. The sensors are non-invasive, have no time delay due to sensor response times, and have no influence on the bioprocess itself. No sampling is necessary, and several components can be analyzed simultaneously. In general, the direct monitoring of substrates, products, metabolites, as well as the biomass itself is possible. In this review article, insights are provided into the different applications of infrared spectroscopy for bioprocess monitoring and the complex data interpretation. Different analytical techniques are presented as well as example applications in different areas.