Lab-scale treatment of foodstuff with the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila using a specially designed biorreactor.

NOSEDA DIEGO GABRIEL; GENTILLI HERNAN; NANI LOURDES; NUDEL CLARA; FLORÍN-CHRISTENSEN JORGE

Pinamar, Pcia de Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunion Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones Bíoquimicas; 2005

Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones Bioquímicas

The eukaryotic cell Tetrahymena termophila has a number of unique features. So far no industrial process in which this non pathogenic organism could be used for the treatment of food has been developed. The advantages of this microorganism include the conversion of cholesterol into provitamin D, the formation of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and large quantities of coenzyme Q. Moreover Tetrahymena sequesters sterols in the forms of steryl steres that are acumulated in intracelular lipid droplets. Due to these qualities, Tetrahymena termophila can be used to improve the characteristics of special foodstuff, like milk. The development of a special bioreactor that allows the microorganism to grow and the treatment of the foodstuff on a continuous form is therefore a challenging undertaking. The stages of this process include: (A) The biomass production in a specially formulated economical medium, (B) the harvesting of the cells, (C) Their addition to the foodstuff (D) An adequate treatment for separation of the cells from the foodstuff and finally, (F) The recovery of the improved foodstuff and the collection of the cell biomass. Therefore with the application of the bioreactor in this process an improved foodstuff can be obtained. The cell biomass recovered can be exploited to extract useful compounds including the already mentioned. These substances may find important applications in food and drug biotechnology.