Patent ID: 8679796

Claim:
A process for the production of galactose-rich polymer comprising, in molar proportion, galactose (50-90%), mannose (1-25%), glucose (1-25%), rhamnose (0.5-20%), and non-sugar components comprising acetate, pyruvate and succinate, the process comprising cultivating at least one Pseudomonas oleovorans strain in a microbial culture in which the carbon source comprises, a) glycerol or a glycerol-rich substrate; b) at least one of the following compounds, mixtures thereof or mixtures thereof with glycerol: 1) a monomeric, dimeric or olygomeric sugar; 2) an alcohol; 3) an organic acid; and 4) an alkane, or c) a food or industrial waste comprising at least one of 1) a monomeric, dimeric or olygomeric sugar; 2) an alcohol; 3) an organic acid; and 4) an alkane wherein cultivating the at least one Pseudomonas oleovorans strain in the microbial culture comprises: i) inoculating the microbial culture in an aqueous nutrient medium, having the carbon source, a nitrogen source and inorganic salts, and aerating the microbial culture to maintain a dissolved oxygen concentration equal to or higher than 80%, while maintaining the pH between 4.0 and 9.0; then ii) concomitant with growth of cells of the at least one Pseudomonas oleovorans strain, allowing the dissolved oxygen concentration to decrease from equal to or higher than 80% to a level below 50%; and when the dissolved oxygen concentration in the culture reaches a level below 50%, iii) supplying the microbial culture with a feeding solution consisting of an aqueous nutrient medium comprising the carbon source, the nitrogen source and the inorganic salts, while keeping the carbon source at a concentration between 10 and 100 g/L, and the ammonium of the nitrogen source exhausted or at a concentration below 0.3 g/L in the microbial culture; and iv) allowing the dissolved oxygen concentration in the microbial culture to decrease concomitantly with growth of cells of the at least one Pseudomonas oleovorans strain until it reaches a value below 30%; then v) controlling the dissolved oxygen concentration at a level below 30%.