Rapid determination of lovastatin in the fermentation broth of Aspergillus terreus using dual-wavelength UV spectrophotometry

AbstractContext: Lovastatin, a hypocholesterolemic drug, is produced by submerged fermentation of Aspergillus terreus Thom (Trichocomaceae). High performance liquid chromatography is usually used to determine lovastatin in samples of the fermentation broth. However, this method is inconvenient and costly, especially in the context of high-throughput sample analysis.Objective: A direct and simple dual-wavelength ultraviolet spectrophotometric method for quantifying lovastatin in the fermentation broth of A. terreus was developed.Materials and methods: A. terreus Z15-7 was used for all experiments. The liquid fermentation was conducted at 30 °C in a rotary shaker at 150 rpm for 15 d. Silica gel and neutral alumina column chromatography were used for the separation and purification of lovastatin from the fermentation broth.Results: The limits of detection of lovastatin were 0.320 μg/ml in the lovastatin standard solution and 0.490 μg/ml in the fermentation broth sample and the limits of quantification of lov...