Obtaining lactic acid from fruit not compatible with commercialization

• Grant number: 12/17476-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Saartje Hernalsteens
• Grantee: Felipe Testa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Lactic acid is a versatile chemical, whose demand is increasing driven primarily by the production of biodegradable lactic acid polymers, and the solvents lactate and various other compounds obtained from three-carbon molecules. The microbial production of lactic acid requires the availability of sources of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other micronutrients. In general, the production of lactic acid is considered costly, since beyond laborious purification process requires an abundant source of carbon (usually sucrose) and organic nitrogen sources in the form of extract and peptones (from yeast and meat). The banana is a fruit abundant in Brazil and suffering heavy losses during the marketing process, containing approximately 24% ps in carbohydrates, especially starch, when it is green, or sugars, when ripe. The pseudo-stalk of the banana plant is composed of cellulosic fibers (10%) and sap (90%), a complex mixture of carbohydrates, tannins and potassium salts, calcium, and magnesium, among others. The main objective of this work is to study the microbial production of lactic acid using a carbon source alternative: a banana and pseudo-stalk of the banana (sap and/or sap and cellulose fiber). Thus, the use of discarded banana and the pseudo-stalk of the banana plant, also discarded, may result in a decrease in expenditure involved in the production, due to the lower cost of substrates, a necessary step aiming at large-scale production of "commodity" type molecules.(AU)