Sorbitol production from Meranti wood sawdust (MWS) using immobilized cells of
Lactobacillus plantarum (BAA-793) with repeated batch fermentation via solid state
fermentation (SSF) was studied. The storage stability of the immobilized cells, entrapped
in sodium alginate beads was also investigated. This study started with the pretreatment of
the MWS to recover the cellulose, followed by the entrapment of the bacterial cells in
sodium alginate, then the fermentation process via SSF. The results showed that the
storage stability of the immobilized cells in gel beads at 4°C were more stable when
compared to stability at 35°C, even with high cell concentration. The cell concentration,
when stored at 4°C showed great stability up to 2 days but started to decrease slightly as
the storage time was extended to 5 days. The concentration of the cells was about log
10.23 CFU/mL (1.70 x 1010 CFU/mL) after 2 days, and log 9.48 CFU/mL (3.00 x 109
CFU/mL), log 9.47 CFU/mL (2.98 x 109 CFU/mL) and log 9.44 CFU/mL (2.80 x 109
CFU/mL) after 3 to 5 days, respectively. The decrease in the concentration was not
significant within the studied period of storage at 4°C. The repeated batch fermentation for
sorbitol production through the reuse of the entrapped cells showed that the same bead
cells can be reused for the fermentation process up to 5 cycles. The production of sorbitol
using the immobilized cells of Lactobacillus plantarum (BAA-793) through solid state
fermentation process showed a good result due to the high concentration of cells entrapped
in the beads, giving rise to a high sorbitol production.