Challenges and opportunities in lactic acid bioprocess design-From economic to production aspects

Lactic acid is an already consolidated bioproduct in the world market. It has many applications, such as: the production of biodegradable polymers, substitution of plastics from oil, and new uses in medicine. Besides this, new applications are being discovered every year, especially in chemical industries as a building-block molecule. The lactic acid market is in constant growth and the fact that the final products are able to comply with environmental laws as green, renewable and biodegradable products contributes to the tendency of continuous growth in the next few years. With all of this in mind, this paper will explore the main aspects of the sector, as well as market tendencies, production chain, and innovation. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.