Comparative production of sugarcane vinegar by different immobilization techniques

Sugarcane juice was converted to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae producing 8% (v/v) ethanol. This ethanol was used for vinegar production using adsorbed (bagasse, corn cobs and wood shavings) and entrapped (calcium alginate) cells of Acetobacter aceti NRRL 746, All three adsorbed carrier materials were statistically similar for acetic acid production and produced acidity from 5.9 to 6.7% after 28 days of submerged fermentation. By recycling bagasse adsorbed cells, the time of acetic acid fermentation was reduced to 13 days. Semi-continuous fermentation of bagasse adsorbed cells using a packed bed column further reduced the fermentation time to 80 h.