Comparative studies on the production of statins using different microbial strains

In this study, we aimed to increase the yield of mevastatin and lovastatin in solid state fermentation (SSF) using three different fungi, Aspergillus terreus MTCC 279, Penicillium citrinum MTCC 1751, and Penicillium brevicompactum MTCC 549. Initially, we screened various substrates for maximizing the production of mevastatin and lovastatin, and barley powder was found to be the most suitable substrate for A. terreus. We applied response surface methodology (RSM) to determine the optimal parameters for initial moisture content, temperature, and inoculum size. The use of RSM resulted in maximizing the production of mevastatin to 288.13 mg/gram dry substrate (gds) and lovastatin to 329.51 mg/gds. For further studies, we used the high yielding strain of A. terreus with barley as a substrate. In the validation experiment, the maximum amount of mevastatin (297.98 mg/gds) and lovastatin (340.71 mg/gds) was obtained using A. terreus with barley as a substrate. This is the first report on the simultaneous production of mevastatin and lovastatin using a high yielding strain in SSF.