Simultaneous saccharification and lactic acid fermentation of the cellulosic fraction of municipal solid waste using Bacillus smithii

Micaela G Chacón, Christopher Ibenegbu, David J Leak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: A primary drawback to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) processes is the incompatibility of the temperature and pH optima for the hydrolysis and fermentation steps-with the former working best at 50-55 °C and pH 4.5-5.5. Here, nine thermophilic Bacillus and Parageobacillus spp. were evaluated for growth and lactic acid fermentation at high temperature and low pH. The most promising candidate was then carried forward to demonstrate SSF using the cellulosic fraction from municipal solid waste (MSW) as a feedstock.

RESULTS: B. smithii SA8Eth was identified as the most promising candidate and in a batch SSF maintained at 55 °C and pH 5.0, using a cellulase dose of 5 FPU/g glucan, it produced 5.1 g/L lactic acid from 2% (w/v) MSW cellulosic pulp in TSB media.

CONCLUSION: This work has both scientific and industrial relevance, as it evaluates a number of previously untrialled bacterial hosts for their compatibility with lignocellulosic SSF for lactic acid production and successfully identifies B. smithii as a potential candidate for such a process.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)667–675
Number of pages9
JournalBiotechnology Letters
Volume43
Issue number3
Early online date21 Nov 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Mar 2021

Funding

The authors would like to thank Dr. Dhivya Puri and Fiberight Ltd. for supplying materials and research support. This work was supported by funding from the BBSRC NIBB, “Network of Integrated Technologies: Plants to Products”

FundersFunder number
BBSRC NIBB

    Keywords

    • Bacillus smithii
    • Lactic acid
    • Municipal solid waste
    • Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biotechnology
    • Bioengineering
    • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

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