A review on the factors influencing biohydrogen production from lactate: The key to unlocking enhanced dark fermentative processes

Octavio García-Depraect; Roberto Castro-Muñoz; Raúl Muñoz; Eldon R Rene; Elizabeth León-Becerril; Idania Valdez-Vazquez; Gopalakrishnan Kumar; Luis C Reyes-Alvarado; Leonardo J Martínez-Mendoza; Julián Carrillo-Reyes; Germán Buitrón

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124595

A review on the factors influencing biohydrogen production from lactate: The key to unlocking enhanced dark fermentative processes

Bioresour Technol. 2021 Mar:324:124595. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124595. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sustainable Processes, University of Valladolid, Dr. Mergelina, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain. Electronic address: octavio.garcia@uva.es.
² Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Toluca, Avenida Eduardo Monroy Cárdenas 2000 San Antonio Buenavista, 50110 Toluca de Lerdo, Mexico; Gdansk University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Process Engineering and Chemical Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza St., 80-233 Gdansk, Poland.
³ Institute of Sustainable Processes, University of Valladolid, Dr. Mergelina, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain.
⁴ Department of Water Supply, Sanitation and Environmental Engineering, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, P. O. Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft, the Netherlands.
⁵ Department of Environmental Technology, Centro de Investigación y Asistencia en Tecnología y Diseño del Estado de Jalisco, A.C., Av. Normalistas 800, Colinas de la Normal, 44270 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
⁶ Unidad Académica Juriquilla, Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Querétaro, Mexico.
⁷ Institute of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Box 8600 Forus, Stavanger 4036, Norway.
⁸ Unidad de Energía Renovable, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C., Parque Científico de Yucatán, A.C., Carretera Sierra Papacal - Chuburná Puerto, km 5., 97302 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.

PMID: 33453519
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124595

Abstract

Dark fermentation (DF) is one of the most promising biological methods to produce bio-hydrogen and other value added bio-products from carbohydrate-rich wastes and wastewater. However, process instability and low hydrogen production yields and rates have been highlighted as the major bottlenecks preventing further development. Numerous studies have associated such concerns with the inhibitory activity of lactate-producing bacteria (LAB) against hydrogen producers. However, an increasing number of studies have also shown lactate-based metabolic pathways as the prevailing platform for hydrogen production. This opens a vast potential to develop new strategies to deal with the "Achilles heel" of DF - LAB overgrowth - while untapping high-performance DF. This review discusses the key factors influencing the lactate-driven hydrogen production, paying particular attention to substrate composition, the operating conditions, as well as the microbiota involved in the process and its potential functionality and related biochemical routes. The current limitations and future perspectives in the field are also presented.

Keywords: Bio-hydrogen production; Dark fermentation; H(2) stability; Lactic acid; Lactic acid bacteria; Microbial community.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Bioreactors
Fermentation
Hydrogen
Lactic Acid*
Microbiota*

Substances

Lactic Acid
Hydrogen