Anaerobic fermentation for n-caproic acid production: A review

Abstract

Abstract Anaerobic fermentation-based technologies are used for treating organic residues, and producing high value-added products, such as solvents, gases, and organic acids. Among several organic acids, n-caproic acid can be used as antimicrobial agent, additive in animal feed, flavor additive, and feedstock for chemical and biofuel industries. n-Caproic acid formation occurs through a carboxylic acid chain elongation process, which uses reverse β-oxidation of acetic and/or n-butyric acid, and ethanol or lactic acid as an electron donor. This review addresses important issues in commercial n-caproic acid production: metabolic pathways, kinetics and thermodynamics, substrates, reactors, inhibition of competing biological activities, pH, and acid extraction. Additionally, a mathematical model to describe the reverse β-oxidation kinetics was evaluated from existing literature. Current investigations show a wide range of n-caproic acid production rates (3.0–55.8 g/(L·d)), using different open cultures, fermentation conditions, and methods for inhibiting the methanogenesis. Clostridium kluyveri presence and a dominance of the Clostridium spp. were identified as determinant when ethanol was provided as electron donor. Continuous n-caproic acid extraction through pertraction is a promising technology, which combines selective extraction and enhanced production rates. However, confirming the industrial feasibility of this process requires further investigation.