Preparation and process optimization of microbial organic copper as a feed additive

[Preparação e otimização do processo de cobre orgânico microbiano como aditivo alimentar]

ABSTRACT

As an essential trace element for animals, copper significantly contributes to the growth and health of animals. Compared to inorganic trace elements, organic trace elements are better supplements; notably, they are acquired through microbial transformation. Therefore, we screened for copper-enriched microorganisms from high copper content soil to obtain organic copper. Sodium diethyldithio carbamate trihydrate was applied as a chromogenic agent for determining micro amounts of intracellular copper through spectrophotometry. In total, 50 fungi were isolated after the successful application of the screening platform for copper-rich microbes. Following morphological and molecular biology analyses, the N-2 strain, identified as Aspergillus niger sp. demonstrated showed better copper enrichment potential than others. Notably, the strain tolerance to copper was nearly thrice that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, up to 1600mg/L. The content of the organic bound copper was 22.84mg Cu/g dry cell. Using the Central Composite Design (CCD) response surface method, we optimized the fermentation condition (inoculation amount, 13%; temperature, 28(C; pH, 5.0). Compared to the original strain results under the single factor fermentation condition, we reported an increase by 24.18% under the optimized conditions. Collectively, these findings provide a reference for uncovering new and low-cost organic copper additives.

Keywords:
organic copper; screening; identification; process optimization