Efficient D-lactic acid production by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus through conversion of organosolv pretreated lignocellulosic biomass

Lactic acid bioconversion processes have numerous advantages over the chemical synthesis route, not only due to the high-titer yield of the final product with great optical purity, but also due to the possibility of utilizing lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks as carbon source in an economic and environmentally friendly way. In the present study, beechwood and pine were pretreated with a novel mild oxidative organosolv process to produce cellulose-rich solid fractions, which were tested for their ability to support the growth and high lactic acid productivity of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (ATCC (R) 11842). We employed a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) strategy in batch cultures with 9% w v(-1) solids loading. The results for beechwood showed the highest production of 62 g L-1 lactic acid after 72 h of incubation, corresponding to a yield of 0.69 g g(-1) of biomass (82.7% of the theoretical maximum yield) and a productivity of 0.86 g L-1 h(-1). In the case of pine, the productivity was lower at 0.51 g L-1 h(-1), leading to accumulation of 36.4 g L-1 lactic acid, corresponding to a yield of 0.40 g g(-1) of biomass (41.4% of the theoretical maximum yield). Our study suggests that L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus is an efficient lactic acid bacterial strain for the production of optically pure D-lactic acid from non-edible, organosolv pretreated hardwood and softwood biomass for the synthesis of bio-based plastics and other products.