FINISHED PROJECT

Directing Product Formation by Mixed Culture Fermentation

PhD-student: Margarida F. Temudo, MSc
Tel: +31 15 278 1482
e-mail: m.temudo@tudelft.nl
Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht
Supervisor: Dr.ir. Robbert Kleerebezem
Institute: Delft University of Technology, Department of
Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology group
Project term: January 2004 January 2008
Financed by: STW

Description

Our society is dealing with the shortage of fossil fuels and chemical feedstocks and, on the other
hand, with the increase of wastes generated by municipalities, agriculture and industries. Bio-based
industry, the conversion of renewable resources or wastes to chemicals and fuels, by microbial
fermentations or enzymes has been receiving increasingly attention: to develop new technologies,
increase efficiencies and reduce the costs in fermentation, bioconversion, and in downstream
processing.
A great challenge is to develop fermentation technology that employs the underutilized biomass
residues, often considered as waste. The use of open mixed cultures can be an option to convert
these waste streams into bulk chemicals. Based on natural inoculants with a high microbial diversity,
open mixed cultures are capable of dealing with substrate mixtures of variable composition under
non-sterile conditions. Despite the high number of species, selection occurs for a limited number of
microorganisms that best adapt to the imposed conditions. The big challenge of mixed culture
biotechnology is to design the operational conditions that will select for the desired metabolic
conversion. The aim of this project was to study the impact of the operational conditions on mixed
culture fermentation: on the product spectrum and on the microbial population established. The
variables studied were: pH, carbon source, different influent substrate concentrations and mixtures of
substrates. To this end, experiments were performed in a continuous operated bioreactor; and the
results were interpreted considering the available knowledge on pure culture fermentation and
theoretical predictions, based on thermodynamic calculations.

Figure 1- Possible products and respective metabolic pathways of mixed culture fermentation
Dissertation

Directing product formation by open mixed cultures fermentation. M. Freire Temudo Ribeiro Ferreira,
22 April 2008.

Publications

Temudo, MF, Kleerebezem, R & Loosdrecht, MCM van (2007). Influence of the pH on (open) mixed
culture fermentation of glucose: a chemostat study. Biotechnology and bioengineering, 98(1), 69-79.

Temudo MF, Poldermans R, Kleerebezem R & Loosdrecht MCM van (2008). Glycerol fermentation by
(open) mixed cultures: a chemostat study. Biotechnology and bioengineering, DOI 10.1002/bit.21857