ABSTRACT
The palm oil industry started about 100 years ago when the first oil palm estate was established in 1911. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is recognized as waste that could pollute the environment. This is due to its high value of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids, total solids, ammoniacal nitrogen, oil and grease, and color. This chapter uses the POME to produce itaconic acid, which is one of the growth dissociate synthesis. The itaconic acid production decreases rapidly for the immobilized fungus on the day 4 of fermentation. It is an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid produced by the filamentous fungi Aspergillus terreus and Aspergillus itaconicus from carbohydrates like sucrose, glucose, and xylose. The chapter concludes that Aspergillus terreus NRRL 1960 was successfully immobilized inside the Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)–alginate–sulfate beads, but the immobilization process is not really effective as leakage of the cells occurs and thus the mycelium can be found inside the medium.
