Short communicationEffective purification of succinic acid from fermentation broth produced by Mannheimia succiniciproducens
Introduction
Succinic acid is a common metabolite formed by plants, animals and microorganisms. It is a C4 dicarboxylic acid produced as an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and also as one of the fermentation products of energy metabolism [1], [2]. As the importance of succinic acid for use as a biodegradable polymer has increased, the biological production by fermentation has been focused on as the alternative to the petrochemical-based process [2], [3]. Newly discovered facultative anaerobic bacteria Actinobacilllus succinogenes and Mannheimia succiniciproducens are considered as the effective succinic acid producers because they can endure high glucose osmotic pressure and produce significant amounts of succinic acid with a high productivity [4], [5]. The fermentation broth used in this study was cultured by M. succiniciproducens, which was isolated from bovine rumens by Lee et al., and the yield was 22.3 g succinic acid/l. Contaminated organic acids were also produced as a by-product with a gram ratio of succinic acid to by-produced acids of 1.76 [4], [5], [6], [7]. Contaminated organic acids adversely affect the recovery of succinic acid as well as its yield in the fermentor [3], [4], [5].
Therefore, in the production of succinic acid by fermentation, the separation process for succinic acid should be required due to the many impurities in the fermentation broth, such as by-produced acids, carbon sources and salts [4], [8]. Normally, the downstream purification cost accounts for 60–70% of the production cost in the fermentation based process [9]. For the economical recovery process of succinic acid from the fermentation broth, several possible alternatives such as precipitation, distillation, electrodialysis and extraction have been reported [10], [11], [12], [13]. However, it is impossible to apply only one separation process for product recovery, concentration, acidification and purification of succinic acid to its required purity. The traditional succinic acid recovery method is based on precipitation and crystallization technology, acidification by ion-exchange resins and crystallization process [8], [14]. However, the production of succinic acid by this process is very costly and it requires a much more complex process for commercial use.
Therefore, in the present study, we propose an efficient process for the development of the more effective separation and production of succinic acid. Throughout our process, reactive extraction has been proposed to as a primary separation method for removal of by-produced acids from the fermentation broth [15], [16], [17]. Then, pretreated samples by reactive extraction were further purified by the crystallization that was conducted at a different pH. It was the purpose of this investigation to purify succinic acid from the fermentation broth, and to establish a simpler and more effective complex purification process. We obtained highly purified succinic acid with the pretreatment of reactive extractions and followed by crystallization.
Section snippets
Organic chemicals
Tri-n-octylamine (TOA; Junsei, Japan, 99%) was used as the extractant without further purification. Diluent was used in the reactive extraction of succinic acid because of the high viscosity and the corrosive property of TOA. 1-Octanol (Aldrich, 99.9%) was used as diluent in this work. The concentration of TOA in the organic phase was 0.25 mol/kg as the basis of 1-octanol. The pH of the fermentation broth was adjusted by adding either NaOH or HCl solution. The pH of the fermentation broth was
Pretreatment of fermentation broth by reactive extraction
In this study, the effective purification process of succinic acid was investigated from fermentation broth produced by M. succiniciproducens. To be cost effective, the separation process required the removal of cells and protein-like impurities, conversion of the succinic salt into free acid, and polishing of the free acid to its required purity. Thus, the complex separation technology is applied to simultaneous reactive extraction, vacuum distillation and crystallization for the effective
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Genome-based Integrated Bioprocess Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Further supports by Brain Korea 21 (BK21).
References (21)
- et al.
Effects of medium components on the growth of Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens and succinic acid production
Process Biochem
(1999) - et al.
Batch and continuous fermentation of succinic acid from wood hydrolysate by Mannheimia succiniciproducens MBEL55E
Enzyme Microb Technol
(2004) - et al.
Removal of acetic acid from aqueous solutions containing succinic acid and acetic acid by tri-n-octylamine
Sep Purif Technol
(2005) - et al.
Biotechnology of succinic acid production and markets for derived industrial products
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol
(1999) - et al.
High-value organic acids fermentation-emerging processes and products
- et al.
Selective extraction of succinic acid from binary mixture of succinic acid and acetic acid
Biotechnol Lett
(2000) - et al.
Succinic acid production with reduced by-product formation in the fermentation of Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens using glycerol as a carbon source
Biotechnol Bioeng
(2001) - et al.
Isolation and characterization of a new succinic acid-producing bacterium, Mannheimia succiniciproducens MBEL55E, from bovine rumen
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol
(2002) - Datta R, Glassner DA, Jain MK, Vick Roy JR. Fermentation and purification process for succinic acid. US patent...
- Baniel AM, Eyal AM. Citric acid extraction. US patent 5,426,220...
Cited by (99)
Comparison of ceramic microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes for the clarification of simulated sebacic acid fermentation broth
2023, Journal of Environmental Chemical EngineeringModeling of electrochemical pH swing extraction reveals economic potential for closed-loop bio-succinic acid production
2023, Chemical Engineering Research and DesignUpcycling cotton textile waste into bio-based building blocks through an environmentally friendly and high-yield conversion process
2023, Resources, Conservation and RecyclingTransforming textile wastes into biobased building blocks via enzymatic hydrolysis: A review of key challenges and opportunities
2022, Cleaner and Circular BioeconomyElectrochemical separation of organic acids and proteins for food and biomanufacturing
2022, Chemical Engineering Research and DesignCitation Excerpt :Organic acids are widely used as precursors for synthesizing chemical derivatives in numerous fields such as food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries (Hábová et al., 2004; Kang and Chang, 2005; Zaman et al., 2017). For instance, succinic acid is an indispensable chemical for the production of biodegradable polymers, detergents, food seasonings, and even anticarcinogenic agents (Berglund et al., 1991; Huh et al., 2006; Kang and Chang, 2005). Oxalic acid is a reducing organic acid, widely used as metal treatment, dye, and bleaching agents as shown in Table 1 (Riemenschneider and Tanifuji, 2000).