PRODUCTION OF KOJIC ACID

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively obtain in improved yield kojic acid useful as e.g. a freshness preservative for fresh vegetables/fishes and a skin whitening agent preventing liver spots/freckles by culturing a kojic acid-productive strain in a bubble column culture tank. SOLUTION: Kojic acid having the above advantages is efficiently produced through a fermentation at low cost by culturing a kojic acid-productive strain [e.g. Aspergillus oryzae MK107-39 (FERM P-16712)] in a medium comprising starch alone as carbon source and nitric acid alone as nitrogen source in a bubble column culture tank 1 with the bottom equipped with a microbubble generator (sparger) 3 consisting of a sintered metallic (stainless steel) filter or ceramic filter intended for fine bubbles and the interior with a draft tube 2.