Cell immobilization for microbial production of 1,3-propanediol

Cell and enzyme immobilization are often used for industrial production of high-value products. In recent years, immobilization techniques have been applied to the production of value-added chemicals such as 1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PDO). Biotechnological fermentation is an attractive alternative to current 1,3-PDO production methods, which are primarily thermochemical processes, as it generates high volumetric yields of 1,3-PDO, is a much less energy intensive process, and generates lower amounts of environmental organic pollutants. Although several approaches including: batch, fed-batch, continuous-feed and two-step continuous-feed were tested in suspended systems, it has been well demonstrated that cell immobilization techniques can significantly enhance 1,3-PDO production and allow robust continuous production in smaller bioreactors. This review covers various immobilization methods and their application for 1,3-PDO production.