Industrial Microbiology

Industrial Microbiology - Use of microbes to obtain a product or service of economic value constitutes industrial microbiology. Any process mediated by or involving microorganisms in which a product of economic value is obtained is called fermentation (Casida, Jr., 1968). The terms industrial microbiology and fermentation are virtually synonymous in their scope, objectives and activities.

The microbial product may be microbial cells (living or dead), microbial biomass, and components of microbial cells, intracellular or extracellular enzymes or chemicals produced by the microbes utilizing the medium constituents or the provided substrate.

The services generated by microorganisms range from the degradation of organic wastes, detoxification of industrial wastes and toxic compounds, to the degradation of petroleum to manage oil spills, etc. Industrial microbiology also encompasses activities like production of biocontrol agents, inoculants used as biofertilizers, etc.

Obviously, the scope and activities of industrial microbiology are too extensive to be covered in any detail in a book like this scope; therefore, the coverage in this chapter remains generalized and rather elementary.

The activities in industrial microbiology begin with the isolation of microorganisms from nature, their screening for product formation, improvement of product yields, maintenance of cultures, mass culture using bioreactors, and usually end with the recovery of products and their purification.