Modeling the continuous lactic acid production process from wheat flour.

Area of Science:

• Biochemical Engineering
• Industrial Biotechnology
• Process Modeling

Background:

• Wheat flour is a viable substrate for lactic acid production.
• Simultaneous saccharification, protein hydrolysis, and fermentation (SSPHF) offers an efficient bioprocess.
• Accurate kinetic models are crucial for process optimization and scale-up.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a kinetic model for the SSPHF process of lactic acid production from wheat flour.
• To describe key process variables including bacterial growth, substrate consumption, and product formation.
• To validate the model using experimental data and predict optimal operating conditions.

Main Methods:

• Development of a comprehensive kinetic model incorporating bacterial growth, substrate consumption (glucose, maltose), protein hydrolysis, and lactic acid production.
• Fitting and validation of the model against experimental data from SSPHF conducted at various dilution rates.
• Utilizing the validated model for steady-state analysis to predict concentrations of biomass, lactic acid, glucose, and maltose.

Main Results:

• The developed kinetic model demonstrated good agreement with experimental data from SSPHF.
• Model predictions accurately reflected observed trends in biomass, substrate, and lactic acid concentrations.
• Steady-state analysis provided insights into the relationship between dilution rate and key process variables.

Conclusions:

• The kinetic model provides a robust framework for understanding and optimizing the SSPHF of lactic acid from wheat flour.
• The model's predictive capability is valuable for determining operating conditions that maximize lactic acid productivity.
• This research contributes to the efficient biomanufacturing of lactic acid using agricultural feedstocks.