Effect of pH upon Solvent Production in Batch Cultures of Clostridium Acetobutylicum in Cane Molasses

Abstract

Experiments have been performed in batch fermentation, using cane molasses, to investigated the effect of pH on solvent production of Clostridium acetobutylicum P262. Initial pH of medium was adjusted at 4.50, 5.00, 5.40 and 7.00, Inoculum size of Clostridium used in this study was 2.27x10⁷ spores/ml. The cultures were incubated anaerobically at 34⁰C. The result shows that butanol and ethanol production increased with increasing pH. At initial pH 7.00, maximum production of acetone, butanol and ethanol were 2.92, 3.97 and 0.97 g/l at 60, 90 and 60 h after inculbation, respectively, Only acetone was produced at initial pH 4.50. And at initial pH 5.00, acetone and butanol were produced.