Complex media from processing of agricultural crops for microbial fermentation.
This mini-review describes the concept of the green biorefinery and lists a number of suitable agricultural by-products, which can be used for production of bioenergy and/or biochemicals. A process, in which one possible agricultural by-product from the green crop drying industry, brown juice, is converted to a basic, universal fermentation medium by lactic acid fermentation, is outlined. The resulting all-round fermentation medium can be used for the production of many useful fermentation products when added a carbohydrate source, which could possibly be another agricultural by-product. Two examples of such products-polylactic acid and L-lysine-are given. A cost calculation shows that this fermentation medium can be produced at a very low cost approximately 1.7 Euro cent/kg, when taking into account that the green crop industry has expenses amounting to 270,000 Euro/year for disposal of the brown juice. A newly built lysine factory in Esbjerg, Denmark, can benefit from this process by buying a low price medium for the fermentation process instead of more expensive traditional fermentation liquids such as corn steep liquor.
Thomsen
Mette Hedegaard
MH
Biosystems Department, Risoe National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark. mette.hedegaard.thomsen@risoe.dk
D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D018556:Crops, Agricultural; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000191:economics; D005285:Fermentation; D007218:Industrial Microbiology / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods
D003470:Culture Media