Industrial citric acid by fermentation (Currie)

What it is

Currie discovered that Aspergillus niger grown on the surface of a sugary, highly acidic medium accumulates citric acid. Pfizer industrialised it from 1919 and displaced extraction from Italian lemons.

Wehmer had already observed in 1893 the formation of citric acid by Citromyces (Penicillium), without lasting industrial success; the lasting industrial route is that of Currie and Pfizer.

What it led to

• end of the Italian citric acid monopoly and cheaper supply for soft drinks and foods
• model of non-antibiotic industrial fermentation and biological chemistry
• transition to submerged fermentation and bioreactors

Built on

• Isolation of citric acid1784

Made possible

• Penicillin1928–1943
• Penicillin purification and mass production (Florey, Chain, Heatley)1940-1943

Links

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_niger