In this paper, a minibioreactor platform made of low cost polymers is presented. The minibioreactor prototype was designed
as an alternative solution for carrying out microbial fermentation experiments in laboratory. The minibioreactor prototype
has a working volume of 1.5 mL and was fabricated from poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane)
(PDMS) polymers. Cell density was measured online whilst agitation rates and the temperature of the reactor content
can be tightly controlled to desired set-point values. As proof-of-concept, various S. cerevisae fermentation experiments
were conducted. In every experiment, the minibioreactor operated stably for the entire length of operation which was
nearly 40 h with very minimal volume loss i.e. about 2.8 µL·h-1 at 37ºC. The minibioreactor has the maximum oxygen
transfer rate (OTR) of 16.6 mmol·L-1·h-1 under the agitation rate of 300 rpm. Under these conditions, cell specific growth
rate as high as 0.291 h-1 was obtained. The experimental data in the minibioreactor operation was also reproducible
using shake flask where similar growth profiles were attained under a similar growth conditions.