Use of virginiamycin to control the growth of lactic acid bacteria during alcohol fermentation

Abstract

The antibiotic virginiamycin was investigated for its effects on growth and lactic acid production by seven strains of lactobacilli during the alcoholic fermentation of wheat mash by yeast. The lowest concentration of virginiamycin tested (0.5 mg Lactrol kg-1 mash), was effective against most of the lactic acid bacteria under study, but Lactobacillus plantarum was not significantly inhibited at this concentration. The use of virginiamycin prevented or reduced potential yield losses of up to 11% of the produced ethanol due to the growth and metabolism of lactobacilli. However, when the same concentration of virginiamycin was added to mash not inoculated with yeast, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and L. paracasei grew after an extensive lag of 48 h and L. plantarum grew after a similar lag even in the presence of 2 mg virginiamycin kg-1 mash. Results showed a variation in sensitivity to virginiamycin between the different strains tested and also a possible reduction in effectiveness of virginiamycin over prolonged incubation in wheat mash, especially in the absence of yeast.

Relationship between pH and Medium Dissolved Solids in Terms of Growth and Metabolism of Lactobacilli andSaccharomyces cerevisiaeduring Ethanol Production

“…The extensive use of antibiotics such as penicillin G over the last 50 years has led to the emergence of resistant microflora (18). Therefore, other antibiotics used in the animal feed industry, such as virginiamycin (11) and monensin (20), have been introduced into the alcohol industry. However, the concept of antibiotic use in an industrial process is undesirable, despite the absence of antibiotic residues in spent grains, which are destined to be fed to livestock.…”

Simultaneous Production of Sugar and Ethanol from Sugarcane in China, the Development, Research and Prospect Aspects

“…However contamination is more serious in this operation (Skinner ＆ Leathers, 2004). In the fuel ethanol industry, control of bacterial contamination is achieved by acidification and using antibiotics such as penicillin G, streptomycin, tetracycline (Aquarone E,1960;Day et al, 1954), virginiamycin (Hamdy et al, 1996;Hynes et www.intechopen.com , 1997;Islam et al, 1999), monensin (Stroppa et al, 2000), or mixtures thereof. Fig 9 shows the process of continuous fermentation of molasses and sugarcane juice to produce ethanol.…”

Improving bio-ethanol yield: Using virginiamycin and sodium flouride at a Pakistani distillery

“…Different antibiotics including penicillin, virginiamycin and tetracycline have been reported to control contamination by lactic acid bacteria in experimentally infected alcoholic fermentations (Aquarone, 1960;Bayrock et al, 2003;Hynes et al, 1997).…”

“…Loss was up to 13-14% when lactrol was not used in our study and available literature supports this. Hynes et al (1997) stated that 6 -12% loss of total produced alcohol (0.8-1.5% v/v ethanol concentration in fermentation) were seen when particularly aggressive contamination were present in high number.…”