Production of succinic acid from Basfia succiniciproducens up to the pilot scale from Arundo donax hydrolysate

Abstract

In the present work the recently isolated strain Basfia succiniciproducens BPP7 was evaluated for the production of succinic acid up to the pilot fermentation scale in separate hydrolysis and fermentation experiments on Arundo donax, a non-food dedicated energy crop. An average concentration of about 17g/L of succinic acid and a yield on consumed sugars of 0.75mol/mol were obtained demonstrating strain potential for further process improvement. Small scale experiments indicated that the concentration of acetic acid in the medium is crucial to improve productivity; on the other hand, interestingly, short-term (24h) adaptation to higher acetic acid concentrations, and strain recovery, were also observed.

Keywords: Acetic acid; Arundo donax; Basfia succiniciproducens; Inhibitor; Pilot scale; Succinic acid.