Succinic acid production from cheese whey via fermentation by using alginate immobilized Actinobacillus succinogenes

Abstract The production of succinic acid from cheese whey was studied with immobilized and free cells of Actinobacillus succinogenes. Alginate was used as immobilizing agent, the durability of alginate beads was assessed and improved. Batch fermentations with free cells were conducted using cheese whey, lactose and glucose, highest succinic acid production was achieved with cheese whey (24.9 g L−1) with 35 g L−1 starting lactose concentration. For immobilized batch fermentations, 74.9% yield and 1.09 g L−1 h−1 productivity achieved with cheese whey. Repeated-batch fermentations conducted with whey using the same beads in 5 repeated cycles (144 h) and 0.89 g L−1 h−1 of productivity was achieved. For continuous fermentations with whey and immobilized cells, maximum 0.84 g/g yield was achieved. In this work, it is suggested that immobilizing A. succinogenes with alginate-whey mixture is an effective technique and cheese whey is a valuable resource for the production of succinic acid.