Day 2 (Part II)

Diagram 1: Fauzan measuring the Optical density of the sample

After the inoculation, the rest of the day was about sampling. The sampling was done at 2 hours interval. About 10 ml of culture was collected each time into a test tube. The cell biomass of the culture was monitor by measuring the optical density of the culture using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. To monitor the glucose consumption by the cells, glucose tests were done using digital glucose testing device. Readings were recorded for both the optical density measurements as well as the glucose concentration in the samples.

The sampling was carried out in a total of 18 hours, from 10.30 pm on 20/11/2012 (Tuesday) to 6.30 pm on 21/11/2012 (Wednesday). A total of 10 samples were collected and analysed.

For the first time, we had our overnight experience in the lab. Through this experiment, we could see that teamwork is really important. We took turn, sacrificed our sleep time to make sure that the fermentation process was going smoothly throughout the night and sampling and analysis were done at the specific time. It was great experience!

Diagram 2: Samples collected to be analysed