Utilization Of Chitin Derived From Shell Wastes For The Production Of L-Phenyl Acetyl Carbinol By The Yeast, Saccharomyces Cevrevisae Atcc-Mya 143

The present investigations are designed to understand the applicability of chitin derived from the waste shells of a marine shrimp, Penaeus monodon as a supplement in the medium formulation in mobilizing cell biomass for biotransformation of benzaldehyde to L-Phenyl Acetyl Carbinol (L-PAC). The yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevesiae ATCC-MYA 143 (CDRL, Lucknow) was employed for the production of L-PAC using shake flask fermentation. The results depict that in the presence of Molasses, Urea and Chitin (MUC), the yeast cells attained a concentration of 145 x 10(6)/ml or 14.5 g.l(-1) at pH 5.2. The addition of chitin to the media composition (Molasses and urea) in the presence of benzaldehyde clearly indicated that MUC appears to have a definite influence on the yield of L-PAC production.