Abstract
Furfural, a byproduct formed during the thermal/chemical pre-treatment of hemicellulosic biomass, was degraded to methane and carbon dioxide under anaerobic conditions. The consortium of anaerobic microbes responsible for the degradation was enriched using small continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) systems with daily batch feeding of biomass pretreatment liquor and continuous addition of furfural. Although the continuous infusion of furfural was initially inhibitory to the anaerobic CSTR system, adaptation of the consortium occurred rapidly with high rates of furfural addition. Addition rates of 7.35 mg furfural/700-mL reactor/d resulted in biogas productions of 375%, of that produced in control CSTR systems, fed the biomass pretreatment liquor only. The anaerobic CSTR system fed high levels of furfural was stable, with a sludge pH of 7.1 and methane gas composition of 69%, compared to the control CSTR, which had a pH of 7.2 and 77% methane. CSTR systems in which furfural was continuously added resulted in 80% of the theoretically expected biogas. Intermediates in the anaerobic biodegradation of furfural were determined by spike additions in serum-bottle assays using the enriched consortium from the CSTR systems. Furfural was converted to several intermediates, including furfuryl alcohol, furoic acid, and acetic acid, before final conversion to methane and carbon dioxide.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dean, F. M. (1963),Naturally Occurring Ring Compounds, Butterworths, London.
Robertson, G. L. and Samaniego, C. M. L. (1986),J. Food Sci. 51, 184–187.
Kaanane, A., Kane, D., and Labuza, T. P. (1988),J. Food Sci. 53, 1470–1473.
El-Nemur, S. E., Ismail, I. A., and Askar, A. (1988),Food Chem. 10, 269–276.
Calvi, J. P. and Francis, F. J. (1978),J. Food Sci. 43, 1448–1456.
Rapp, A., Guntert, M., and Ullemeyer, H. (1985),Z. Lebensm. Unters. Forsch. 180, 109–116.
Simpson, R. F. (1980),J. Sci. Food Agric. 31, 214–222.
Howells, J. S., Johnston, D., and Vojodic, P. R. (1988),Anal. Proc. 25, 162, 163.
Service, E. G., Shinnie, G. B., and MacLeod, T. M. (1982),J. Clin. Hosp. Pharm. 7, 287–292.
Hung, C. T., Selkirk, A. B., and Taylor, R. B. (1982),J. Clin. Hosp. Pharm. 7, 17–24.
Schwald, W., Brownell, H. H., and Saddler, J. N. (1988),J. Wood Chem. Technol. 8, 543–560.
Bobleter, O., Schwald, W., Concin, R., and Binder, H. (1986),J. Carbohydr. Chem. 5, 387–400.
Bonn, G., and Bobleter, O. (1984),Chromatographk 18, 445–448.
Chapman, G. W., Burdick, D., Higman, H. C, and Robertson, J. A. (1978),J. Sci. Food Agric. 29, 312–316.
Garrett, E. R. and Dvorchik, B. H. (1969),J. Pharm. Sci. 58, 813–820.
Grohmann, K., Himmel, M., Rivard, C, Tucker, M., and Baker, J. (1984),Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp. 14, 138–157.
Grohmann, K., Torget, R., and Himmel, M. (1985),Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp. 15, 59–80.
Rivard, C. J., Himmel, M. E., and Grohmann, K. (1985),Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp. 15, 375–385.
Grohmann, K., Torget, R., and Himmel, M. (1986),Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp. 17, 135–151.
McCarty, P. L., Young, L. Y., Stuckey, D. C, and Healy, J. B. Jr. (1977),Microbial Energy Conversion, Schlegel, H. G. and Barnea, J., eds., Pergamon, Oxford, pp. 179–199.
Benjamin, M. M., Woods, S. L., and Ferguson, J. F. (1984),Water Res. 18, 601–607.
Vitrinskaya, A. M. and Soboleva, G. A. (1975),Prikl. Biokhim. Mikrobiol. 11, 649–652.
Pfiefer, P. A., Bonn, G., and Bobleter, O. (1984),Biotechnol. Lett. 6, 541–546.
Morimoto, S., Hirashima, T., and Ohashi, M. (1968),Hakko Kogaku Zasshi 46, 276–281.
Kitcher, J. P. (1972), Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales.
Holcenberg, J. S., Hughes, D. E., and Lowenstein, J. M. (1969),J. Biol. Chem. 244, 1194–1199.
Hirschberg, R. and Ensign, J. C. (1971),J. Bacteriol. 108, 757–768.
Kakinuma, A. and Yamatodani, S. (1973),Nature 201, 420–428.
Brune, G., Schoberth, S. M., and Sahm, H. (1982),Process Biochem. 17, 20–35.
Brune, G., Schoberth, S. M., and Sahm, H. (1983),Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 46, 1187–1192.
Folkerts, M., Ney, U., Kneifel, H., Stackebrandt, E., White, E. G., Foerstel, H., Schoberth, S. M., and Sahm, H. (1989),Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 11, 161–169.
Henson, J. M., Bordeaux, F. M., Rivard, C. J., and Smith, P. H. (1986),Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 51, 288–292.
Rivard, C. J., Bordeaux, F. M., Henson, J. M., and Smith, P. H. (1987),Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 17, 245–261.
Rivard, C. J., Himmel, M. E., and Grohmann, K. (1984),Proceedings for the First Symposium on Biotechnological Advances in Processing Municipal Wastes for Fuels and Chemicals, ANL/CNSV-TM-167 pp. 261-282.
Hungate, R. E. (1969),Methods in Microbiology, vol.3B, pp. 117–132.
Balch, W. E., Fox, G. E., Magrum, L. J., Woese, C. R., and Wolfe, R. S. (1979),Microbiol. Rev. 43, 260–296.
Wolin, A. E., Wolin, M. J., and Wolfe, R. S. (1963),J. Biol. Chem. 238, 2882- 2886.
Cheeseman, P., Toms-Wood, A., and Wolfe, R. S. (1972),J. Bacteriol. 112, 527–531.
Evans, W. C. and Fuchs, G. (1989),Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 42, 289–317.
Racker, E. (1957),Methods in Enzymology vol.III, pp. 293–296.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rivard, C.j., Grohmann, k. Degradation of furfural (2- furaldehyde) to methane and carbon dioxide by an anaerobic consortium. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 28, 285–295 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02922608
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02922608