Production of succinic acid from Basfia succiniciproducens up to the pilot scale from Arundo donax hydrolysate

In the present work the recently isolated strain B. succiniciproducens BPP7 was evaluated up to the pilot fermentation scale in SHF experiments on Arundo donax, a non-food dedicated energy crop. An average concentration of about 17 g/l of succinic acid and a yield on consumed sugars of 0.75 mol/mol were obtained demonstrating strain potential for further process improvement. Small scale experiments indicated that the concentration of acetic acid in the medium is crucial to improve productivity; on the other hand, interestingly, short-term (24h) adaptation to acetic acid and strain recovery were also observed.