Effect of Nickel Contamination on the Growth of Oleaginous Yeasts in Hydrolisates of Arundo Donax

• Main Authors: Pirozzi, Domenico, Toscano, Giuseppe, Caputo, Gerardo, Florio, Ciro, Rugari, Felicia, Travaglini, Giuseppe, Yousuf, Abu, Zuccaro, Gaetano
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: "Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania 2015
• Subjects: TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/12639/1/21_1041_Collivignarelli_14.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/12639/7/ftech-2015-abu-Effect%20of%20Nickel%20Contamination%20on%20the%20Growth.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/12639/; http://omicron.ch.tuiasi.ro/EEMJ/pdfs/vol14/no7/Full/21_1041_Collivignarelli_14.pdf
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Pahang

Hydrolysates of Arundo donax, a crop offering high productivity in contaminated orsalinized soils with no inputs of irrigation and agrochemicals, were used in a discontinuous fermenter to grow the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkey, to obtain microbial oils potentially useful for the production of 2nd-generation biodiesel. A mixture of fermentable sugars was obtained by steam-explosion and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of the lignocellulosic materials. The concentration of Ni2+ ions and of inhibitors of the microbial growth significantly affected both the biomass and the triglyceride yields. The microbial lipids produced were compatible with the synthesis of an automotive-grade biodiesel. A physico-mathematical model, developed todescribe the biomass growth, demonstratedthat the concentration of heavy metals affected the maximum biomass concentration,though its influence on the specific growthrate of the yeasts was not significant.