Offline optimization of trehalose accumulation in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae fed-batch culture

• Published in: Journal of process control Vol. 154; p. 103494
• Main Authors: Huet, Antoine, Sbarciog, Mihaela, Bogaerts, Philippe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2025
• Subjects: Control vector parametrization; Dynamical model; Glycogen; Process optimization; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Trehalose; Process optimization; Dynamical model; Trehalose; Glycogen; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Control vector parametrization
• ISSN: 0959-1524
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jprocont.2025.103494

Trehalose, a disaccharide formed of two glucose molecules, plays a crucial role as stress protectant and as carbon and energy reserve in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Having access to accurate models in order to optimize culture conditions to obtain high intracellular trehalose concentration at the end of fermentation is of real industrial interest. Model-based optimization is a well-known way to avoid trial and error processes to identify these conditions. This paper presents model-based optimization of intracellular trehalose in baker’s yeast fed-batch cultures using a recently developed macroscopic model that predicts the growth of S. cerevisiae and the dynamics of trehalose and glycogen. The influence of parametric uncertainty on the optimization results is assessed via Monte Carlo analysis, which provides insights for choosing the most robust optimization criterion. Comparison with the results of a previous study reveals that the recently proposed model predicts less trehalose accumulation at the end of the optimized culture. The inconsistencies in the optimization results obtained with the two different models are analyzed and explained. This investigation leads to the conclusion that the recently proposed model gives the most realistic representation of intracellular trehalose dynamics.