Integrated utilisation of green biomass in the green biorefinery

Abstract

Grass, clover and alfalfa are used for production of fodder pellets. In the green crop drying factories in the northern countries the drying is combined with pressing of the green crops resulting in production of large volumes of plant juices, green and brown juice. In order to get rid of these enormous amounts of plant juice, representing an environmental threat, it is our aim to convert the simple drying industry to a whole crop utilisation factory, a green biorefinery, where the plant juice can be used as raw material in a fermentation process. As the plant juice is very unstable, it has been necessary to develop a method for both conservation and utilisation of the juice. The plant juice is converted to a nice universal fermentation medium by lactic acid bacteria. A number of lactic acid producing strains have been tested. Among the most productive strains, Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei P4155 is found to be the most effective in utilising fructans and citric acid. Most carbohydrates and organic acids in the juice can be converted to lactic acid by two homofermentative lactobacilli. The highest lactic acid yield and productivity is reached when using not-heat sterilised brown or green juice as the fermentation medium. The amount of free amino acids in the juice is increased and the content of vitamins and other important growth factors kept unspoiled by the lactic acid fermentation. The fermented juice can be stored as it is or evaporated to a concentrated form and used in fermentation industries for production of amino acids, organic acids, enzymes etc.