Ammonia amendment promotes high rate lactate production and recovery from semi-continuous food waste fermentation

Wenjuan Zhang; Xiang Li; Ya He; Xianbao Xu; Hong Chen; Ai Zhang; Yanan Liu; Gang Xue; Jacek Makinia

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122881

Ammonia amendment promotes high rate lactate production and recovery from semi-continuous food waste fermentation

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Apr:302:122881. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122881. Epub 2020 Jan 23.

Authors

Wenjuan Zhang¹, Xiang Li², Ya He³, Xianbao Xu¹, Hong Chen¹, Ai Zhang¹, Yanan Liu¹, Gang Xue⁴, Jacek Makinia⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Environmental Protection Engineering Centre for Pollution Treatment and Control in Textile Industry, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China.
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Environmental Protection Engineering Centre for Pollution Treatment and Control in Textile Industry, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, United States.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, United States.
⁴ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Environmental Protection Engineering Centre for Pollution Treatment and Control in Textile Industry, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China. Electronic address: xuegang@dhu.edu.cn.
⁵ Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland.

PMID: 32014732
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122881

Abstract

In this study, a reliable approach using ammonia nitrogen was proposed to increase lactate production during semi-continuous food waste (FW) fermentation under mesophilic conditions. Both free ammonia nitrogen (FAN) and ammonium ion (NH₄⁺-N) were present in mesophilic reactors, with a wide FAN/NH₄⁺-N ratio variation due to the intermittent pH control. The investigation of responsible mechanisms revealed that the increased production yield of LA was associated with the acceleration of solubilization, hydrolysis, glycolysis and acidification. The presence of FAN and NH₄⁺-N in proper concentrations increased lactate production by 2.4 folds and recovered lactate production to 24.5 g COD/L from low rate control reactor (9.6 g COD/L) under mesophilic conditions. Furthermore, the microorganisms responsible for LA accumulation (Bavariicoccus, Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium and Corynebacterium) were selectively enriched, and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathways associated with carbohydrate transport and LA production were enhanced in nitrogen fed reactors.

Keywords: Ammonium ion; Food waste fermentation; Free ammonia; Lactic acid; Mesophilic condition.

MeSH terms

Ammonia*
Bioreactors
Fermentation
Food
Lactic Acid
Refuse Disposal*

Substances

Lactic Acid
Ammonia