OBSERVATIONS ON FOAMING AND ITS INHIBITION IN A BACTERIAL CULTURE

SUMMARY: Inhibition of foaming in a continuous culture of bacteria has been studied. At first, foaming was inhibited by the addition of antifoam to the culture only when a foam layer was present. When the antifoam was added in this way foaming often became intense and antifoam additions had to be more and more frequent. In a preferred method the antifoam was added at regular intervals which were sufficiently short to inhibit foaming completely throughout the intervening periods. This method required less antifoam than the other. The effects of foaming in cultures, its causes, and allied problems are discussed.