Xanthan production by X.campestris in a laboratory fermenter was studied at uncontrolled pH and the effect of agitation levels on growth and production kinetics, the pyruvate content and the molecular weight of xanthan was investigated. Agitation effects include both effects of hydrodynamic shear, as well as aeration effects, which superimpose each other. Peters et al. [14] studied the influence of agitation rate on xanthan production by X. campestris and separated the hydrodynamic effect from the influence on mass transfer using oxygen enriched air. They reported that at low stirring speeds, oxygen limitation resulted in significantly lower specific xanthan production rates and somewhat lower molecular weights, while no hydrodynamic effect on xanthan production was observed. A number of other studies [15], [16] and [17] also demonstrate that the specific xanthan production rate is directly related to the specific oxygen uptake rate-a linear relationship between the two has been reported [15], which in turn is linked to agitation conditions that determine the total amount of cells participating in the fermentation and the DOT experienced by them. Amanullah et al. [18] demonstrated that xanthan production was not influenced by changes of shear stress in the vicinity of the microorganism due to changes of agitation speed. In these studies, the effect of agitation on the chemical structure of xanthan was not considered. Oxygen limitation effects on pyruvilation were studied in a bubble column in batch and continuous culture and showed a strong dependence between the two, although, any specific growth effects were not considered [19]. Therefore, the majority of the published work including modeling [20], was performed using bubble column and air-lift bioreactors to ensure high levels of dissolved oxygen tension and adequate mixing of the broth. It was not the aim of our work to clarify the complex effects of agitation but to correlate them with the pyruvate content and the molecular weight of the exopolysaccharide. Our study did not include OTR measurements, however the applied air-inflow rate ensured that the DOT was never below a 5% of saturation at 72 h at low stirrer speeds (100 rpm), while around 10% of saturation at the same time at 600 rpm.