Solid State Fermentation for Microbial Synthesis

Dear Colleagues,

Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a microbial process that feeds on insoluble porous solid or semi-solid substrates. Most substrates are moistened agro-industrial wastes but ensure that microbes grow in an environment with minimal or no free liquid. The SSF microbes are mainly filamentous fungi, and sometimes bacteria, with organic acids and industrial enzymes as their two main types of products. Due to its ability to convert agro-industrial waste into value-added products, SSF is a suitable tool for solid waste management, especially in biomass conversion and bio-energy development.

The SSF is considered an environmentally and economically sound industrial process because it can produce higher volume productivity and less wastewater. With the ability to minimize foreign microbial contamination and the high efficiency of enzymes, the SSF system has advantages in the recovery, quality and activity of the final product, as well as in process stability and efficiency. When testing new substrates and producing new products, statistical techniques can be used to optimize parameters and the culture medium. However, water in the SSF is embedded in the solid matrix, which limits heat and mass transfer rates. It causes technical bottlenecks to expand the application from laboratory to commercial production, for instance, when attempting to control pH and temperature through aeration and agitation or to recover final products from solid substrates on a large scale. To solve these problems, technical breakthroughs alongside deeper and more dimensional scientific understandings of microbial physiology and ecology, growth and metabolic mechanism are needed.

This Special Issue aims to publish innovative research results and review papers on SSF system optimization, developing new systems and products, scientific theoretical research and technological exploration conducive to SSF industrialization.

Dr. Chen Sun
Prof. Dr. Yen Wah Tong
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fermentation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• solid state fermentation
• lignocellulosic biomass
• organic acid
• biochemicals
• enzymes
• microbial ecology
• value-added products
• bioreactor
• quality control and process improvement