Production of camptothecine using whey by an endophytic fungus: standardization using response surface methodology

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum kolhapuriensis, a novel endophytic fungi isolated from Nothapodytes nimmoniana Mabb. Grahm, was found to produce camptothecine (CPT) using whey as a complex medium. The highest production of CPT was attained using statistical methods Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Central Composite Design (CCD) was used to optimize the complex medium and culture conditions for maximum production of CPT by the fungus. The optimized medium that yielded 283 ± 0.27 mg l⁻¹ of CPT contained 70% (v/v) of acid whey and 2% (w/v) malt extract. The other two culture parameters optimized through RSM were temperature (30 °C) and period of incubation (6 days). The production of CPT was confirmed by analytical techniques such as HPTLC, HPLC and LC-HRMS. This cost effective optimized medium using RSM might be useful for large scale CPT production which will ultimately reduce the further downstream processing cost.