Production of fumaric acid by fermentation of enzymatic hydrolysates derived from cassava bagasse

Cassava bagasse is a starch-rich lignocellulosic residue (50% of starch, by weight, on a dry basis) which is discarded daily into rivers. The enzymatic hydrolysate of cassava bagasse was used as the sole carbon source to produce fumaric acid by submerged fermentation using several Rhizopus strains. This work was developed in several steps. Six different sources of nitrogen and six different compositions of the enzymatic hydrolysate were used. Atl experimental design was carried out to optimize the media cultivation. The strain Rhizopus fonnosa MUCL 28422 was se\ecl~d as the best fumaric acid producer, yielding 21.28 gil in a media containing cassava bagasse as the sole carbon source, KN01 as nitrogen source (C/N ratio of 168), 20 gil of CaCO), 10 !Igll of biotin, 0.04 gil of ZnS04.7HzO, 0.25 gil of MgS04.7HP, 0.15 gil of KH2P04 and 15 mill of methanol