Production of propionic acid by microbiological way. Part 2. Effect of the pH value on cell growth and acid production

Improved propionic acid production from glycerol: combining cyclic batch- and sequential batch fermentations with optimal nutrient composition

Propionic acid was produced from glycerol using Propionibacterium acidipropionici. In this study, the impact of the concentrations of carbon and nitrogen sources, and of different modes of high cell density fermentations on process kinetics and -efficiency was investigated. Three-way ANOVA analysis and batch cultivations at varying C/N ratios at pH 6.5 revealed that propionic acid production rate is significantly influenced by yeast extract concentration. Glycerol to yeast extract ratio (ww(-1)) of 3:1 was required for complete glycerol consumption, while maintaining the volumetric productivity. Using this optimum C/N ratio for propionic acid production in cyclic batch fermentation gave propionate yield up to 93mol% and productivity of 0.53gL(-1)h(-1). Moreover, sequential batch fermentation with cell recycling resulted in production rates exceeding 1gL(-1)h(-1) at initial glycerol up to 120gL(-1), and a maximum of 1.63gL(-1)h(-1) from 90gL(-1) glycerol.

Kinetic analysis and pH-shift control strategy for propionic acid production with Propionibacterium Freudenreichii CCTCC M207015

The production of propionic acid by Propionibacterium freudenreichii CCTCC M207015 was investigated in a 7.5-l stirred-tank fermentor. Batch fermentations by P. freudenreichii CCTCC M207015 at various pH values ranging from 5.5 to 7.0 were studied. Based on the analysis of the time course of specific cell growth rate (mu (x)) and specific propionic acid formation rate (mu (p)), a two-stage pH-shift control strategy was proposed. At first 48 h, pH was controlled at 6.5 to obtain the maximal mu (x), subsequently pH 6.0 was used to maintain high mu (p) to enhance the production of propionic acid. By applying this pH-shift control strategy in propionic acid fermentation, the maximal propionic acid and glucose conversion efficiency had a significant improvement and reached 19.21 g/l and 48.03%, respectively, compared with those of constant pH operation (14.58 g/l and 36.45%). Fed-batch fermentation with pH-shift control strategy was also applied to produce propionic acid; the maximal propionic acid yield and glucose conversion efficiency reached 25.23 g/l and 47.76%, respectively.