TITLE:
Fermenting Saudi Wasted Dates by Using Lactobacillus casei (ATCC 393), Acidophilus (CICC 6088) and the Mixed-Culture Bacteria to Produce Lactic Acid
AUTHORS:
Mahmoud H. Bushara, Fahad Alkoaik, Ahmed Abasaeed, Ronnel Fulleros
KEYWORDS:
Lactic Acid, Culture, Lactobacillus, Wasted Dates and Fermentation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.8 No.4,
April
27,
2018
ABSTRACT: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia produces over one million metric tons annually, which returns a 20% of wasted dates annually. Lactic acid and its derivatives are widely used in food, pharmaceutical and textile industries. There has been an increase in lactic acid production because it is used as a raw material to produce polylactic acid, a polymer that is used as a special medical and environmental friendly biodegradable plastic. This study aimed to use wasted dates to produce lactic acid by single culture Lactobacillus casei (ATCC 393), Lactobacillus acidophilus (CICC 6088) and the mixed culture using batch fermentation. The investigation results showed that the maximum concentration of lactic acid for ATCC 393, CICC 6088 and the mixed culture are 87, 84 and 84 g/l respectively. For single CICC 6088 and the mixed culture, the total percentage of glucose and fructose utilized was found to be 100%; 76%, respectively, whereas in the case of the single culture ATCC 393, the total percentage of glucose and fructose were 100% and 72%, respectively. With regard to lactic acid concentration, and sugar consumption, the results revealed that the single culture ATCC 393 produced the optimum lactic acid of 87 g/l for 48 hr with initial sugar concentration of 90 g/l.