Response surface optimization of microbial prodigiosin production from Serratia marcescens

The statistical experimental design was used to optimize the medium constituents for maximal prodigiosin production by S. marcescens. The experimental results showed that the optimal medium constituents were 0.5% glycine, 0.454% peptone, 1626.3 ppm KH2PO4, and 0.5% sucrose. Under this optimal composition, the predicted prodigiosin production was 2230.2 mg/L, and the experimental value was 2423.4 mg/L for 1 day culture in shake flasks. The microbial prodigiosin productivity was enhanced by nearly 8.42-fold (from 273.3 to 2423.39 mg/L).