Dagmar Behmer, marketing manager Bruker, examines the online monitoring of fermentation processes using FT-NIR spectroscopy.
Figure 1: Principle of transmission, transflection and reflection measurements
Fermentation, ‘the anaerobic conversion of sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol’ is commonly associated with producing beer or wine. In the pharmaceutical environment, cell fermentation is used to manufacture a large number of APIs, targeting a wide range of medical indications from anti-cancer drugs to vaccines and many other medications. It is always used, when the synthetic route is very complex and requires significant and time-consuming development stages.