Changes of lipid composition from culture fluid during the production of antibiotic salinomycin

A major step in the biotechnological process of production of antibiotic salinomycin is fermentation, which has the greatest impact on the quality of the final product. Vegetable oils (rapeseed or soybean) are used as nutrient medium during fermentation, with some of the lipids embedded in the final product. Data on their effect on product quality is missing, which is why a study of the changes in the composition of lipids in cultural fluid during the fermentation process was conducted. The composition of the residual lipids isolated from three samples of the culture fluid during fermentation (213, 405 and 490 hours), was investigated before drying the final product. The lipid content of the samples was 6.3%, 3.5% and 6.2%. The main trend is an increase in the amount of saturated fatty acids at the expense of a decrease in unsaturated acids. The amount of tocopherols during the fermentation process increased as well as γ-tocopherol, while the amount of α-tocopherol decreased. The content of carotenoids decreased twice during fermentation. Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were identified as major polar lipid components. The main phospholipid classes contain mainly palmitic, stearic and oleic acids. Significant changes in general lipid composition were observed during the biosynthesis process.