The influence of the surface-active agent Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene 20 sorbitan monoleate) on the dispersed growth of Mycobacterium bovis - BCG - was studied. The slopes of the bacterial dry mass / absorbance curves, were significantly reduced, by the increase of the Tween 80 concentration in the medium. Such an influence was probably due to the effect Tween 80 had on the average size of bacterial clumps during the culture carried out in a bench fermente