Scaling up of Lactic Acid Fermentation using Enterococcus faecalis

Lactic Acid bacterium (LAB) Enterococcus faecalis was used with the aim of scaling up a lactic acid fermentation (LAF) from 3L jar fermenter to pilot scale up to 100-L in an open fermentation. Batch mode in Lab and pilot scale fermentations were compared in terms of productivity, overall yield, cell growth, lactic acid production, and glucose consumption. Fermentations were performed at pH 6.86, 45 oC, and 100 rpm. Process simulation was conducted by using SuperPro Software and the data obtained from pilot scale. The results were compared using t-test and ANOVA. The results showed that the production rate of Lab scale was 4.96±0.09 g/Lh with a yield of 0.93 ±0.005. While for pilot scale, the production rate was 3.91 g/Lh with a yield of 0.915 ±0.005. There was no significant difference between both processes, regarding the yield, but there was a difference regarding the production rate, being slowly lower for pilot scale, but still high for industrial scaling up. Contamination was controlled fairly because Enterococcus faecalis is a thermophilic strain and then, proved to have industrial potential to produce Lactic Acid (LA).