Elsevier

Journal of Biotechnology

Volume 156, Issue 4, 20 December 2011, Pages 286-301
Journal of Biotechnology

Review
Lactic acid production from lignocellulose-derived sugars using lactic acid bacteria: Overview and limits

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2011.06.017Get rights and content

Abstract

Lactic acid is an industrially important product with a large and rapidly expanding market due to its attractive and valuable multi-function properties. The economics of lactic acid production by fermentation is dependent on many factors, of which the cost of the raw materials is very significant. It is very expensive when sugars, e.g., glucose, sucrose, starch, etc., are used as the feedstock for lactic acid production. Therefore, lignocellulosic biomass is a promising feedstock for lactic acid production considering its great availability, sustainability, and low cost compared to refined sugars. Despite these advantages, the commercial use of lignocellulose for lactic acid production is still problematic. This review describes the “conventional” processes for producing lactic acid from lignocellulosic materials with lactic acid bacteria. These processes include: pretreatment of the biomass, enzyme hydrolysis to obtain fermentable sugars, fermentation technologies, and separation and purification of lactic acid. In addition, the difficulties associated with using this biomass for lactic acid production are especially introduced and several key properties that should be targeted for low-cost and advanced fermentation processes are pointed out. We also discuss the metabolism of lignocellulose-derived sugars by lactic acid bacteria.

Introduction

Lactic acid (2-hydroxypropanoic acid, CH3–CH(OH)–COOH) is a natural organic acid with a long history of use in the food and non-food industries, including the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, and for the production of oxygenated chemicals, plant growth regulators, and special chemical intermediates (Oshiro et al., 2009, Singhvi et al., 2010, Tashiro et al., 2011). Currently, there is an increased demand for lactic acid as a feedstock for the production of biopolymer poly-lactic acid (PLA), which is a promising biodegradable, biocompatible, and environmentally friendly alternative to plastics derived from petrochemicals. PLA has many uses in surgical sutures, orthopedic implants, drug delivery systems, and disposable consumer products (Adnan and Tan, 2007), and its use would significantly alleviate waste disposal problems. The physical properties of PLA depend on the isomeric composition of lactic acid. Pure isomers, l- and d-lactic acid, are more valuable than the racemic dl form because each isomer has its own specific industrial application. l-Lactic acid is used for the synthesis of poly l-lactic acid (PLLA), a semi-crystalline biodegradable and thermostable polymer that has a potentially large market in goods packaging. PLLA has high tensile strength and low elongation with a high modulus that makes it suitable for medical products used in orthopedic fixation (e.g., pins, rods, ligaments, etc.), cardiovascular applications (e.g., stents, grafts, etc.), dental applications, intestinal applications, and sutures (John et al., 2006a). d-Lactic acid is used for the production of poly d-lactic acid (PDLA) (John et al., 2009). These pure polymers are relatively heat sensitive, while stereocomplexes of PLLA and PDLA have a melting point ∼50 °C higher than their respective pure polymers (Ikeda et al., 1987, Tsuji and Fukui, 2003) and are more biodegradable (de Jong et al., 2001, Tashiro et al., 2011). The ratio of l- and d-lactic acids influences the properties and the degradability of PLA (Kharras et al., 1993).

Lactic acid can be produced either by chemical synthesis or by microbial fermentation. Chemical synthesis from petrochemical resources always results in racemic mixture of dl-lactic acid, which is a major disadvantage of this approach (Hofvendahl and Hahn-Hägerdal, 2000). Conversely, microbial lactic acid fermentation offers an advantage in terms of the utilization of renewable carbohydrate biomass, low production temperature, low energy consumption, and the production of optically high pure lactic acid by selecting an appropriate strain (Ilmen et al., 2007, Pandey et al., 2001). Presently, almost all lactic acid produced globally is manufactured by fermentation routes. In particular, there have been numerous studies of lactic acid production by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in comparison with other microorganisms.

The demand for lactic acid has increased considerably due to its wide range of applications; however, the high cost of the raw materials, e.g., starch and refined sugars, which accounts for the highest portion of the production cost, represents one of the most serious obstacles for the fermentative production of lactic acid to compete with chemical synthesis (Datta et al., 1995). Cheap raw materials are essential for the feasibility of the biotechnological production of lactic acid because polymer producers and other industrial users usually require large quantities of lactic acid at a relatively low cost. The use of low-cost non-food materials for lactic acid production appears to be more attractive because they do not have any impact on the human food chain. Nowadays, lignocellulosic materials from agricultural, agro-industrial, and forestry sources represent a potentially inexpensive and renewable carbohydrate feedstock for the large-scale fermentation of lactic acid due to their abundance, low price, high polysaccharide content, and renewability (Duff and Murray, 1996, Parajo et al., 1996, Taniguchi et al., 2005, Wyman, 1999). However, the cellulose and hemicellulose in lignocellulose are not directly available for bioconversion to lactic acid because of their intimate association with lignin (Schmidt and Thomsen, 1998) and the lack of hydrolytic enzymes in LAB (Tokuhiro et al., 2008).

There have been numerous investigations on the development of biotechnological processes for lactic acid production, with the ultimate objective of making the process more effective and economical. In this review, we focus on the “conventional” processes for lactic acid fermentation by LAB from lignocellulosic biomass and lignocellulose-derived sugars. Moreover, we describe the limitations of lactic acid production using such materials. We also describe fermentative processes and technologies with practical examples, the metabolism of biomass-derived sugars, and the promising prospects of lactic acid fermentation.

Section snippets

Composition of lignocellulosic biomass

The global production of plant biomass, of which over 90% is lignocellulose, amounts to ∼200 × 109 tons per year, where ∼8–20 × 109 tons of the primary biomass remains potentially accessible (Lin and Tanaka, 2006). Lignocellulosic biomass is organic material derived from a biological origin, and represents the most abundant global source of biomass that has been largely unutilized (Lin and Tanaka, 2006). It is mainly composed of cellulose (insoluble fibers of β-1,4-glucan), hemicellulose

Improvement of lactic acid production by LAB in the field of microbial technology

It has generally been observed that pH, nutrient concentration, substrate concentration, end products concentration, and temperature significantly affect the growth of LAB and lactic acid production. These factors may decrease cell density and the lactic acid titer, yield, and productivity in some cases. Researchers in the field of microbial technology have conducted numerous studies to establish an efficient method of lactic acid production by LAB.

In lactic acid fermentation, low pH has an

Metabolism of lignocellulose-derived sugars by LAB

LAB can be classified into 2 groups on the basis of the end product of their fermentation: homofermentative and heterofermentative. Homofermentative LAB virtually produce only lactic acid, whereas other products are generated by heterofermentative LAB along with lactic acid (Axelsson, 1993, Hofvendahl and Hahn-Hägerdal, 2000).

Fig. 2 shows the metabolic pathways of hexose and pentose in LAB. When hexose sugars such as glucose are used, they are consumed by the Streptococcus, Lactococcus,

Designed biomass study and conclusions

Currently, the fermentative production of useful substances, e.g., biomaterials and biofuels, from various renewable resources by microorganisms has become more attractive. For this purpose, it is essential that the used strain should consume the renewable resources as substrates to produce the useful substances. In a number of recent studies, a targeted substrate is initially decided upon, e.g., several types of biomass and by-products from industrial factories. Two main approaches are then

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