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The release of fermentable carbohydrate from peat by steam explosion and its use in the microbial production of solvents
Author(s) -
Forsberg Cecil W.,
Schellhorn Herb E.,
Gibbins L. N.,
Maine Frank,
Mason Eileen
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.260280205
Subject(s) - steam explosion , peat , chemistry , carbohydrate , food science , pulp and paper industry , environmental science , biochemistry , biology , ecology , engineering
Abstract Steam treatment of peat at 200°C for 3 min, followed by instantaneous decompression (steam explosion), solubilized up to 28% of the dry matter. Seventy‐five percent of the solubilized material was carbohydrate, 33% of which was composed of mono‐ and disaccharides, including galactose, glucose, xylose, mannose, arabinose, and cellobiose, in order of decreasing concentration. The solubilized materials served as the sole source of carbohydrate for growth and solvent production by Clostridium acetobutylicum and C. butylicum which utilized up to 40% of the carbohydrate. Of the saccharides in this mixture, galactose was the least readily utilized. Approximately 30% of the fermentable carbohydrate used was converted to fatty acids and solvents, with the primary fermentation product being butyrate. Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum was able to utilize ca. 50% of the carbohydrate, and simultaneously produced slightly more than 1 mol ethanol/mol saccharide metabolized. This organism, like other strains tested, used galactose less readily than the other sugars. The residue from the steam explosion process contained 24% cellulose, but it could not serve as a source of carbohydrate for the growth of either Bacteroides succinogenes or Clostridium thermocellum , suggesting that inhibitors were released during the steam treatment.