Production of butyric acid from glucose and xylose with immobilized cells of Clostridium tyrobutyricum in a fibrous-bed bioreactor.

Butyric acid has many applications in chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries. In the present study, Clostridium tyrobutyricum ATCC 25755 was immobilized in a fibrous-bed bioreactor to evaluate the performance of butyrate production from glucose and xylose. The results showed that the final concentration and yield of butyric acid were 13.70 and 0.46 g g(-1), respectively, in batch fermentation when 30 g L(-1) glucose was introduced into the bioreactor. Furthermore, high concentration 10.10 g L(-1) and yield 0.40 g g(-1) of butyric acid were obtained with 25 g L(-1) xylose as the carbon source. The immobilized cells of C. tyrobutyricum ensured similar productivity and yield from repeated batch fermentation. In the fed-batch fermentation, the final concentration of butyric acid was further improved to 24.88 g L(-1) with one suitable glucose feeding in the fibrous-bed bioreactor. C. tyrobutyricum immobilized in the fibrous-bed bioreactor would provide an economically viable fermentation process to convert the reducing sugars derived from plant biomass into the final bulk chemical (butyric acid).