Organic Acid and Solvent Production: Propionic and Butyric Acids and Ethanol

Abstract

Both propionic acid and butyric acid together with their acid salts are incorporated into a large number of commercial products. These include food additives and flavors, preservatives, cellulose-based plastics, drug formulations, and fragrances. In the future, production of these short-chain organic acids by low-cost efficient fermentation processes also may make them attractive as feedstocks for conversion into various industrial chemicals. Ethanol is the key ingredient of alcoholic beverages, and the commercial value of the alcoholic beverages alone would make ethanolic fermentation one of the most important applications of microbial activities. Ethanol is used as an industrial chemical and as a component of healthcare and consumer products, and it is increasingly used in automobile fuel. Yeasts are commonly used in a fermentation to convert sugars into ethanol. Bacterial ethanolic fermentation is gaining importance in the development of processes to convert lignocellulosic biomass into fuel ethanol. As economic conditions and ecological considerations favor the growth of a bio-based chemical industry in the twenty-first century, fermentation-derived organic acids and ethanol will play an increasingly important role as chemical feedstocks and fuel supplement.

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