Routine Hptlc in Industrial Analysis: Process Control of Fermentations

Abstract

Quantitative HPTLC is a cost saving and reliable chromatographic routine method for the control of many fermentation processes, as for example the fermentation of penicillin V. The following substances are analyzed: lactose or sucrose, soya oil (against foaming), phenoxyacetic acid (precursor), penicillin V and p-hydroxypenicillin V, as final products. The derivatization after chromatography is performed with an automated spraying device, the measurement—perpendicularly to the direction of chromatography—and evaluation are computerized. The time requirements per sample range from 6 to 15 minutes, the pure analysis time per sample from 5 to 12 minutes. The break-down time of the complete HPTLC apparatus system is about 0,6% of the working time, all substances to be determined can be measured with one scanner, in every interval and sequence desired. The accuracy, expressed by the coefficients of variation (N = 8 – 9, on one plate), ranges from 1,6 to 3,0 %, for very low concentrations up to 6, 6%.