Discovery and History of Amino Acid Fermentation

Abstract

There has been a strong demand in Japan and East Asia for L-glutamic acid as a seasoning since monosodium glutamate was found to present umami taste in 1907. The discovery of glutamate fermentation by Corynebacterium glutamicum in 1956 enabled abundant and low-cost production of the amino acid, creating a large market. The discovery also prompted researchers to develop fermentative production processes for other L-amino acids, such as lysine. Currently, the amino acid fermentation industry is so huge that more than 5 million metric tons of amino acids are manufactured annually all over the world, and this number continues to grow. Research on amino acid fermentation fostered the notion and skills of metabolic engineering which has been applied for the production of other compounds from renewable resources. The discovery of glutamate fermentation has had revolutionary impacts on both the industry and science. In this chapter, the history and development of glutamate fermentation, including the very early stage of fermentation of other amino acids, are reviewed.

Citrulline deiminase pathway provides ATP and boosts growth of Clostridium carboxidivorans P7

“…Citrulline boosted cell growth under heterotrophic conditions Amino acids, as the basic units of proteins, play an crucial role in cell life [23]. To explore the importance of amino acid addition for cell growth of C. carboxidivorans P7, the effects of 20 conventional amino acids on cell growth were studied by serum bottle fermentation in MM520 medium.…”

“…But the molecular genetic manipulation technology of C. carboxidivorans P7 had just been established [7], it required relatively long operation time, and the success rate was not high. So, investigators have noted that amino acids, as the basic building blocks of proteins, play a crucial role in the life of cells [23]. It is known that arginine can be hydrolysed to urea and ornithine at the action of arginase.…”

Citrulline deiminase pathway provides ATP and boosts growth of Clostridium carboxidivorans P7

“…Amino acids, as the basic units of proteins, play a crucial role in cell life [ 26 ]. To explore the importance of amino acid addition for cell growth of C. carboxidivorans P7, the effects of 20 conventional amino acids on cell growth were studied by serum bottle fermentation in MM520 medium.…”

“…However, the molecular genetic manipulation technology of C. carboxidivorans P7 had just been established [ 7 ], it required relatively long operation time, and the success rate was not high. So, investigators have noted that amino acids, as the basic building blocks of proteins, play a crucial role in the life of cells [ 26 ]. It is known that arginine can be hydrolyzed by the action of arginase to produce urea and ornithine.…”

Dose dependent toxicity of glutamic acid: a review

“…In 1957, however, Ajinomoto's method changed from extraction of glutamate from a protein source, a slow and costly method, to a technique of bacterial fermentation which enabled virtually unlimited production of MSG. [70] Shortly thereafter, food manufacturers found that profits could be increased by utilizing flavor-enhancers (additives that contained free glutamate). Over the next two decades, the marketplace became flooded with manufactured/processed free-glutamate added to processed foods in ingredients such as hydrolyzed proteins, yeast extracts, maltodextrin, soy protein isolate, and MSG.…”