ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the process of synthesizing pullulan and the various factors on which its purity and yield depend. Pullulan has been successfully synthesized for a few decades under certain conditions such as time duration, pH, and phosphate concentration from the culture broth/(fungal strain) of Aureobasidium pullulans. The synthesis of other polysaccharide varieties, similar to pullulan, has been done by other microbes. In the synthesis of pullulan, both carbon and nitrogen sources show their importance. In a nitrogen medium, the yield and production rate of pullulan increase with oxygen availability, while in a nitrogen-free medium, oxygen availability shows inverse effect. The kinetics of pullulan synthesis is studied, and it is seen that pullulan concentration gradually increases with fermentation time and reaches a maximum for a certain fermentation period. Dissolved oxygen concentration affects pullulan fermentation in different ways for nitrogen-containing and nitrogen-free mediums.
