Inhibition of hydrogen fermentation of organic wastes by lactic acid bacteria

The effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on hydrogen fermentation of organic waste were investigated. For this three hydrogen producing strains of Clostridium were cultured with two lactic acid bacteria, i.e. Lactobacillus paracasei and Enterococcus durans, which were isolated from the wastes generated in the bean curd manufacturing. The decrease or cessation of hydrogen production by Clostridium was caused by the addition of LAB. The supernatants of L. paracasei and E. durans suspensions also inhibited hydrogen production by Clostridium. This inhibition was partially destroyed in the presence of trypsin, which is a protease inactivating a bacteriocin. These results suggest that the inhibitory effect of lactic acid bacteria on hydrogen production was caused by bacteriocins excreted from LAB which have a deleterious effect on other bacteria. To suppress any effect by LAB, heat treatment of this waste was investigated as a possible pretreatment step. The inhibition of hydrogen production was reduced by heat treatment for 30 min at temperatures ranging from 50degreesC to 90degreesC. This means that a temperature of 50degreesC is already adequate to prevent growth of LAB. (C) 2002 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.