Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Author Spotlight: Optimizing Hollow-Fiber Membranes for Continuous Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Medium-Chain Fatty Acids

Author Spotlight: Optimizing Hollow-Fiber Membranes for Continuous Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Medium-Chain Fatty Acids

Published on: August 9, 2024

Enhanced caproic acid production through electro-fermentation: A novel approach for resource utilization of

Tianshu Liu¹, Jianzheng Li², Furao Wang²

¹State Key Laboratory of Urban-rural Water Resources and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China; Sinochem Bluestar Cleaning Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Sinochem Environment Holdings Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100071, China.

Environmental Research

|December 5, 2025

Abstract:

Caproic acid production from lignocellulosic biomass as sole substrate via anaerobic fermentation is a promising technology, but limited by low yields and selectivity. This study proposed using electro-fermentation to enhance caproic acid production from rice straw, and analyzed the underlying mechanisms of the enhancement. Cathodic electro-fermentation (CEF) significantly increased both the concentration and selectivity of caproic acid, approximately doubling the levels observed in open-culture fermentation. Transfer cultures of microbiome within the CEF system further enhanced the caproic acid production performance. After straw loading and cathode potential optimization, the maximum caproic acid concentration and selectivity reached 6.96 ± 0.42 g/L and 33.5 ± 2.27 %, respectively. Microbial community analysis and functional prediction indicated that CEF enriched caproic acid synthesis genus, including Caproiciproducens, Rummeliibacillus, and Oscillibacter. The reverse β-oxidation pathway (RBO) pathway and the synthesis pathway for acetyl-CoA were also strengthened. Straw loading and cathode potential were key factors influencing caproic acid production. This study introduces a method for enhancing caproic acid production from lignocellulosic waste and contributes to understanding the mechanisms behind CEF-enhanced fermentation of raw waste biomass.

Keywords:

Caproic acid Electro-fermentation Lignocellulose biomass Optimization Transfer culture

More Related Videos

Bioprospecting of Extremophilic Microorganisms to Address Environmental Pollution

Bioprospecting of Extremophilic Microorganisms to Address Environmental Pollution

Published on: December 30, 2021

Production of Chemicals by Klebsiella pneumoniae Using Bamboo Hydrolysate as Feedstock

Production of Chemicals by Klebsiella pneumoniae Using Bamboo Hydrolysate as Feedstock

Published on: June 29, 2017

Related Concept Videos

Microbial Fermentation

Microbial Fermentation

Fermentation is a crucial anaerobic metabolic process that enables microbes to derive energy from sugar without relying on oxygen or an electron transport chain. This process is fundamental to various biological and industrial applications and is classified based on the metabolic products generated.Role of Pyruvate in FermentationPyruvate and its derivatives serve as key electron acceptors in fermentative pathways. The oxidation of NADH to regenerate NAD+ is essential for the continuation of...

Fates of Pyruvate

Fates of Pyruvate

Pyruvate is the end product of glycolysis, where glucose is oxidized to pyruvate, simultaneously reducing NAD+ to NADH. Two molecules of ATP are also produced by substrate-level phosphorylation.
In aerobic organisms, pyruvate is metabolized via the citric acid cycle to produce reduced coenzymes NADH and FADH2. These coenzymes are then oxidized in the electron transport chain to produce ATP and, in the process, regenerate the NAD+ and FAD. As seen in some cell types and organisms, fermentation...

Fermentation

Fermentation

Most eukaryotic organisms require oxygen to survive and function adequately. Such organisms produce large amounts of energy during aerobic respiration by metabolizing glucose and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water. However, most eukaryotes can generate some energy in the absence of oxygen by anaerobic metabolism.
Fermentation is a type of metabolic process that occurs in the absence of oxygen, where organic molecules such as glucose are broken down to produce energy. During this process, the...

Carbon-dioxide Fixation

Carbon-dioxide Fixation

Carbon dioxide fixation in prokaryotes enables the assimilation of inorganic carbon into organic molecules, supporting biosynthetic pathways, sustaining ecosystems, and contributing to the global carbon cycle. It also has industrial applications in carbon capture and bioproduct synthesis. Autotrophic organisms rely on this process to utilize CO₂ as a carbon source in diverse environments.The Calvin CycleThe Calvin cycle is the most widespread carbon fixation mechanism, primarily used by...

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

MAC-DiffCT: Multi-Scale Adaptive Conditional Diffusion Model for CT Reconstruction from Biplanar X-rays.

IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics·2026

Research Progress on Microstructure Control and Strengthening Mechanisms of Aluminum Alloys for New Energy Vehicles.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Overcoming thermodynamic limitations on anaerobic methanogenesis via DSF/c-di-GMP enhanced indirect interspecies electron transfer.

Water research·2026

Comparison of posterior scleral reinforcement surgery and repeated low-level red-light therapy in controlling high and super high myopia in Chinese children.

International journal of ophthalmology·2026

VeloRM: disentangling pre- and post-splicing RNA modification dynamics at single-cell resolution.

Nucleic acids research·2026

DirectASRM: uncovering allele-specific post-transcriptional RNA modifications through direct RNA sequencing.

Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)·2026

See all related articles