Multi-product biorefinery from Arthrospira platensis biomass as feedstock for bioethanol and lactic acid production

Abstract

With the aim to reach the maximum recovery of bulk and specialty bioproducts while minimizing waste generation, a multi-product biorefinery for ethanol and lactic acid production from the biomass of cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis was investigated. Therefore, the residual biomass resulting from different pretreatments consisting of supercritical fluid extraction (SF) and microwave assisted extraction with non-polar (MN) and polar solvents (MP), previously applied on A. platensis to extract bioactive metabolites, was further valorized. In particular, it was used as a substrate for fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae LPB-287 and Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 to produce bioethanol (BE) and lactic acid (LA), respectively. The maximum concentrations achieved were 3.02 ± 0.07 g/L of BE by the MN process at 120 rpm 30 °C, and 9.67 ± 0.05 g/L of LA by the SF process at 120 rpm 37 °C. An economic analysis of BE and LA production was carried out to elucidate the impact of fermentation scale, fermenter costs, production titer, fermentation time and cyanobacterial biomass production cost. The results indicated that the critical variables are fermenter scale, equipment cost, and product titer; time process was analyzed but was not critical. As scale increased, costs tended to stabilize, but also more product was generated, which causes production costs per unit of product to sharply decrease. The median value of production cost was US$ 1.27 and US$ 0.39, for BE and LA, respectively, supporting the concept of cyanobacterium biomass being used for fermentation and subsequent extraction to obtain ethanol and lactic acid as end products from A. platensis.

Fermentation of micro- and macroalgae as a way to produce value-added products

“…Arthrospira, Dunaliella, and Sargassum are the most efficient sources of biofuel in lactic acid fermentation [ [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , 63 , 67 ]. The process must be carried out for 72 h at 37 °C (for Arthrospira and Dunaliella ) [ 61 , 63 ] and at 30 °C (for Sargassum ) [67] .…”

Recent advances in modified poly (lactic acid) as tissue engineering materials

“…Several microorganisms have been able to produce lactic acid and organic lactates, such as fungi [26,27], cereal [28], yeast [29][30][31], cyanobacteria [32][33][34][35], and even algae [36], despite the great variety of microorganisms that produce LA, bacteria have been the most commonly used for the biotechnological production of lactic acid due to the ease and versatility of the handling and processing of bacteria. One of the most important genera of bacteria for producing lactic acid is the genera Lactobacillus.…”

Comprehensive understanding of the mutant ‘giant’ Arthrospira platensis developed via ultraviolet mutagenesis

“…Among these, Arthrospira sp., colloquially known as ‘Spirulina’, is a helical filamentous cyanobacterium, and has attracted commercial interest because of its distinctive appearance and outstanding nutritional benefits ( Selmi et al., 2011 ; Esquivel-Hernández et al., 2021 ; Tzachor et al., 2021 ). Arthrospira sp.…”