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Shaking bioreactors are the most frequently used reaction vessels in biotechnology. Since their inception, shaking bioreactors have been playing a significant role in medicine, agriculture, food, environmental, and industrial research. In spite of their huge practical importance, very little is known about the characteristic properties of shaken cultures from an engineering point of view. In this paper, a critical analysis is presented of the mixing characteristics, aeration, mass and heat transfer, power consumption, and suitability for on-line monitoring and control of various environmental and other operating parameters in aerated and anaerobic/anoxic conditions. Aspects of cell damage due to shear stress generated in shaken flask and loss of sterility due to contamination are also discussed.

Broad-spectrum inhibitory metabolites were produced by a benthic cyanobacterium Fischerella muscicola (UTEX 1829) in batch culture. These metabolites inhibited the growth of eukaryotic algae, cyanobacteria and eubacteria. The effect of culture age on the production and leakage of these inhibitory metabolites from the cyanobacterium was studied. Confirmation of the presence of an allelochemical, possibly fischerellin was achieved using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The cyanobacterium produced inhibitory metabolites intracellularly at all stages of its growth cycle.