Effects of Formate on Fermentative Hydrogen Production by Enterobacter aerogenes

Abstract

This paper describes the effects of formate on fermentative hydrogen production by Enterobacter aerogenes by way of batch culture. When 20 mM formate was added to pH 6.3 and pH 5.8 E. aerogenes glucose cultures (formate culture) at the beginning of cultivation, hydrogen evolution through both glucose consumption and decomposition of the extrinsic formate occurred together, while hydrogen evolution occurred only through glucose consumption in the control cultures. The hydrogen evolution rates in the formate cultures were faster than in the control cultures, although cell growth and glucose consumption rates in the formate cultures were slower than the control cultures'. The decomposition rate of the extrinsic formate in the pH 5.8 formate culture was faster than in the pH 6.3 formate culture. The hydrogen yield from glucose in the pH 6.3 formate culture increased due to the increasing amount of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide for hydrogen production.