Regular articleModeling of caffeine degradation kinetics during cultivation of Fusarium solani using sucrose as co-substrate

- Caffeine biodegradation using fungal system was modeled.
- Sensitive analysis determined the key parameters of the model.
- Experiment and model prediction are in good agreement.
- Sucrose above 6 g/L inhibits caffeine degradation to theophylline.

Microbial kinetics for simultaneous caffeine degradation and its biotransformation to theophylline has been investigated using Fusarium solani. Caffeine was utilized by the fungus as a sole nitrogen source in the presence of sucrose, which served as the primary carbon source. A reaction mechanism involving Monod kinetics with both substrate and product inhibition was formulated based on experimental evidence. A total of thirteen kinetic parameters were involved in the model formulation and these were estimated using simulated annealing algorithm. Moreover, the parameter estimation was carried out for three different experimental sets simultaneously with varying initial sucrose concentration, in order to obtain a common set. Based on sensitivity analysis, among thirteen parameters, saturation constant of biomass accumulation from sucrose utilization (Ks1), yield of biomass from sucrose utilization (YX2/X1), lumped parameter which was defined as apparent yield of biomass from caffeine degradation process (YX2/X3), and yield of theophylline from caffeine metabolism (YX4/X3), were observed to be highly sensitive. The experimental results were in good agreement with the model predictions and have also been validated for an experimental setup which was not used for calibration. The results of the present study has potential application in the development of a process for detoxification of caffeine containing wastes as well as for production of a value added product theophylline.