At Lund University, Division of Food and Pharma, researchers studied the role of annealing in the freeze-drying of probiotic bacteria. Using the INFORS HT Multifors bioreactor and eve software, they controlled the fermentation of Limosilactobacillus reuteri to produce consistent cell cultures for downstream drying. Their results show that increased annealing time leads to thicker encapsulating structures and enhanced storage stability, providing a clearer path to developing more robust probiotic products.

Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg developed and tested methods to improve the stability and recyclability of a PET-degrading enzyme for plastic recycling. Using the INFORS HT Labfors bioreactor, the team compared several immobilization strategies and found that pH-responsive polymers delivered the best results, retaining about 80% of enzyme activity and enabling up to five PET degradation cycles. In batch reactions, the process achieved more than 97% terephthalic acid yield in less than 14 hours for the first three cycles and about 78% yield in the fifth cycle. These findings support more efficient and scalable processes for enzymatic PET recycling.

Scaling microbial fermentation, when working with bacterial, fungal, or yeast-based systems, from laboratory scale to pilot or commercial production involves many challenges. Whether you are producing bacterial cultures for biopharmaceuticals, yeast for bioethanol production, fungal systems for enzyme manufacturing, or precision fermentation products, understanding these specific challenges and confidently overcoming them is important.

A bioreactor provides an ideal environment where cells can focus on what they are supposed to do: proliferate. Like lab workers, cells can only produce consistently good work if the conditions are right: it should not be too hot or too cold, and they have to have enough nutritious food and fresh air. In terms of a bioreactor, this means maintaining pH, temperature, ensuring sufficient gas supply and, depending on how the instrument has been configured, adding nutrients for successful maintenance of growth.