Abstract
Succinic acid, also known as butanoic acid, is widely applicated in the food industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and as a precursor of many chemical compounds including: adipic acid, 1,4-butanediol tetrahydrofuran N-methyl pyrrodidinone, 2-pyrrolidinone, succinate salts and gamma butyrolactone. The biotechnological production of succinic acid is an interesting alternative, presenting an economic advantage when compared with the chemical process. In addition, the agroindustrial residue glycerol can be used to obtain succinic acid by a fermentative process. Glycerol is a by-product of the production of biodiesel and with the increase in production of biodiesel in Brazil, a large volume of glycerol has accumulated in the industries’ manufacturing biofuels. The biological production of succinic acid from glycerol is an attractive process, since it produces a high added-value compound from this by-product while decreasing environmental pollution. Some bacteria have the potential to produce succinic acid from glycerol, amongst which the strains of Actinobacillus succinogenes. Up to now, no economically interesting technology for the production of acid succinic has been developed in Brazil. The biotechnological conversion of the industrial by-product glycerol into acid succinic using cells of Actinobacillus succinogenes would allow for the production of a high added-value product, contributing to a reduction in the excessive volume of glycerol on the market, and would indirectly make the biodiesel production a process more complete. This work studied the succinic acid production by Actinobacillus succinogenes using glucose, sugar cane molasses, xylose, glycerol P.A. and glycerol from the biodiesel industry as substrate. The fermentative process was conducted at temperature 37°C, agitation 150rpm in different time periods (24, 48, 72, 96 hours) using free cells. The best result was observed in glycerol from biodieselas substrate 1.62 g L-1 in 48 hours of fermentation.
