1. Propionic acid production from food waste in batch reactors: Effect of pH, types of inoculum, and thermal pre-treatment
- Author
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Florencia Saravia, Andrea Hille-Reichel, Rowayda Ali, Harald Horn, and Johannes Gescher
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Pre treatment ,2019-20 coronavirus outbreak ,Environmental Engineering ,Batch fermentation ,Bioengineering ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Volatile fatty acids ,Bioreactors ,Dogs ,010608 biotechnology ,Animals ,Food science ,Waste Management and Disposal ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,Chemistry ,Substrate (chemistry) ,General Medicine ,Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ,Fatty Acids, Volatile ,Acid production ,Refuse Disposal ,Food waste ,Food ,Fermentation ,Propionates ,Mesophile - Abstract
In this study, lab-scale batch fermentation tests were carried out at mesophilic temperature (30 °C) to examine the influence of inoculum type, pH-value, and thermal pretreatment of substrate on propionic acid (PA) production from dog food. The selected inocula comprised a mixed bacterial culture, milk, and soft goat cheese. The batch tests were performed at pH 4, pH 6, and pH 8 for both, untreated and thermally pretreated food. Results show that the production of PA and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in general were significantly dependent on the chosen inoculum and adjusted pH value. The maximum PA production rates and yields were determined for the cheese inoculum at pH 6 using untreated and pretreated dog food. PA concentration reached 10 gL-1and 26.5 gL-1, respectively. Our findings show that by selecting optimal process parameters, an efficient PA production from model food waste can be achieved.
- Published
- 2020