BACKGROUND Natamycin is an antibiotic which shows strong inhibition and wide spectrum against most fungi. It is produced mainly through batch and fed-batch fermentations, which are characterized by long culture time, low productivity and enormous discharge of waste biomass. In the present study, a new strategy using immobilized cells was proposed for continuous natamycin production via repeated batch culture to address these shortcomings. RESULTS A combination of cell immobilization and repeated batch culture was employed to continuously produce natamycin in both flasks and a 5-L fermenter. The immobilized cells served as seeds and producing strains, and exhibited high vitality of cell growth and natamycin biosynthesis during six cycles of repeated batch culture. The application of the new strategy led to remarkable decrease of lag phase and removal of time intervals among traditional multiple batch cultures, resulting in a 32.10% reduction of total culture time. In addition, the new strategy showed 1.8-fold higher natamycin titre and 195.24% productivity improvement relative to traditional strategies, and decreased waste biomass discharge, thus consituting a high-efficiency, environmentally friendly strategy for natamycin production. CONCLUSION This study proposes a new approach to continuous natamycin production, which not only promoted natamycin productivity, but also reduced the fermentation time and the biomass residue discharge. Moreover, it provides reference points for the continuous production of other biochemicals by filamentous bacteria or funguses, which could be of great significance in industrial antibiotics production. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry