In the present investigation, R. oryzae NRRL 1526, the one of the best filamentous
fungus strain for fumaric acid (FA) production, was employed against BW. Recently, it has
been claimed that there exists a direct quantitative relation between the pellet morphology
and enhanced production of FA with this strain [13]. Apart from this specific finding, it is
now a consensus view that formation of fungal pellets can benefit the fermentation as they
reduce the medium viscosity and also has the advantages of not wrapping into the impeller
of fermenter, reuse of fungal biomass, and more mass and oxygen transfers [14, 15].
However, the optimized parameters from different studies cannot be drawn into a strong
conclusion. Hence, with every new medium composition, parameters need to be optimized
to control the morphology of the fungal strain. The recent trend on the development of
efficient strategies for pellet formation with a reduced diameter and claim for enhanced
production of FA highly encouraged us to carry out the present investigation. Moreover, the
spectrophotometric method adopted for the quantification of FA in the present approach
further eased the FA determination procedure compared with conventional analytical
methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Thus, the present work
encompasses the economic, eco-friendly, and methodological advantages in the production
of FA