RIBOFLAVINE 



The use of C. guillermondia has been covered by a patent,^® yields of 

 50 to 60 mg. per litre being claimed. Good yields have also been 

 obtained with C.flareri.^^ 



C. guillermondia produced riboflavine on a medium in which either 

 ammonium sulphate or urea was the sole source of nitrogen, and C. 

 flareri with only urea as the nitrogen source ; the iron content must 

 not exceed about 50 /^tg. per litre. Under comparable conditions, the 

 two species yielded 175 and 567 mg. per litre respectively in shake 

 flasks and 118 and 325 mg. per litre in stirred, aerated tanks. C. 

 flareri yielded a preparation containing 97 mg. of riboflavine per gram 

 of solids.2o« 



An investigation into the effect of varying the constituents of the 

 medium for C. guillermondia showed ^^ that the processes involved in 

 growth were different from those involved in the production of ribo- 

 flavine. Good growth was obtained with arabinose, galactose, inulin, 

 maltose, mannitol, sorbose or xylose as the carbohydrate, but yields 

 of riboflavine were low. With glucose, mannose, fructose or sucrose 

 on the other hand, both growth and riboflavine production were good. 

 Asparagine and glycine were good sources of nitrogen for riboflavine 

 production. 



Fermentation with Moulds 



High yields have also been recorded in fermentations with the 

 mould, Eremothecium Ashbyii.^^ Thus A. Raffy and M. Fontaine, 

 using a meat broth-peptone-glucose agar, obtained a yield of 86 mg. 

 per litre of medium on the nineteenth day after inoculation, though 

 on a liquid peptone-glucose medium, in which growth was much slower, 

 a yield of only 27 mg. per litre was obtained after fifty-two days. 

 The fiavine was isolated by adsorption on frankonite and elution of 

 the adsorbate. Considerably lower yields of riboflavine were obtained 

 by fermentation under anaerobic conditions. ^^ 



W. H. Schopfer ^* studied the influence of various nutrients on 

 riboflavine production ; fermentation was conducted in the dark at 

 28° C. in small flasks. Good growth was obtained on liquid media 

 containing a variety of vegetable or animal extracts. With yeast 

 extract, a yield of 30 mg. per litre was obtained in seven days. Higher 

 yields- — up to 128 mg. per litre — ^were claimed by J. Renaud and M. 

 Lachaux ^s after twenty-four days fermentation on a peptone-glucose 

 medium. Leucine and arginine were said ^® to be capable of replacing 

 peptone for riboflavine production. The formation of riboflavine 

 was inhibited by sulphaguanidine and other sulphonamides,^^ and the 

 inhibition was reversed by peptone, but this effect was not related to 

 the _^-aminobenzoic acid present. 



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