Evaluation of the feed composition for an effective medium chain carboxylic acid production in an open culture fermentation

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of substrate composition on chain elongation pathways and on shaping reactor microbiome during open culture fermentation (OCF). The process was performed in a continuous mode in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor fed with either fresh acid whey (AW) or AW at controlled stage of prefermentation (with controlled content of electron donors). Dosing AW with an increasing ethanol loading rate led to ethanol oxidation and short chain carboxylic acids (SCCAs) generation. Change of the feedstock composition (higher lactate and lactose content and ethanol cut off) shifted the process outcome towards medium chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs) production, with caproate as the main product. The MCCAs production rate has grown from 0.7 ± 0 to 4.12 ± 1 g/L/day (38.3 ± 5 to 212.6 ± 60 mmol C/L/day) and reached specificity of 48 ± 18% mol C. The differentiation between microbiome samples confirmed the reactor microbiome shaped according to the feed composition. The only known caproic acid producers were represented by Caproiciproducens ssp., that reached a relative OTU abundance between 3 and 7%. The developed method enables to substitute the use of fossil resources with products from the OCF of waste and wastewater. Thus, it contributes to reduce the carbon footprint and enhance the sustainability of the chemical industry.

Keywords: Caproic acid; Ethanol; Medium chain carboxylic acids; Reactor microbiome; Resource recovery; Whey.