Influence of morphology on the near-infrared spectra of mycelial biomass and its implications in bioprocess monitoring

Bioprocesses that employ mycelial microorganisms are commercially important. The application of optical techniques for the measurement of biomass in such processes is limited by the morphological heterogeneity exhibited by the mycelial microorganism employed. We investigated the influence of morphology on the near-infrared (NIR) spectra of the biomass of Streptomyces fradiae, a filamentous microorganism, by studying the spectra of mycelial suspensions that were manipulated to generate a range of morphological forms. Computerized image analysis was used to characterize the morphological forms. Principal component analysis was used to assess the spectral variations and study correlations to the manipulated mycelial morphology. Although morphology was found to influence the near infrared transmittance spectra of biomass, the influence was less pronounced than in the visible region, the spectral information at longer wavelengths (1600-2350 nm) showing greater stability to morphological variations. Long-wave NIR spectral information is therefore likely to be more useful in estimating biomass in mycelial bioprocesses. Furthermore, the NIR reflectance spectra of dried biomass were found to show correlations to the morphological variations introduced, suggesting that NIR spectra may be useful in obtaining morphology related information. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 82: 715-724, 2003.