Photo-fermentative hydrogen production by Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 in the presence of inhibitory compounds

Abstract

This study investigated Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 biohydrogen production from compounds commonly found in lignocellulosic steam explosion hydrolysate, by examining the effect of individual inhibitory phenolic and furan compounds found in hydrolysates, under photo-fermentative anaerobic conditions. Since lignocellulose is often converted into ethanol via yeast-mediated fermentation, the tolerance of R. palustris CGA009 towards ethanol inhibition was also tested at a concentration range of 0.25–14% (v/v) under anaerobic photo-fermentative conditions. Hydrogen production was enhanced by compounds such as syringaldehyde (0.03 g/L), which accumulated total hydrogen of 960 mL over the cultivation period. In contrast, a reduction in hydrogen production of 1.4 fold was observed in vanillin-containing solutions (0.43 g/L), which obtained accumulated total hydrogen of 576 mL. Increasing ethanol concentrations reduced hydrogen production, but cell growth was not affected up to 1% (v/v), a fairly low concentration. R. palustris CGA009 can tolerate comparatively high concentrations of phenolic compounds, suggesting its use for lignocellulose hydrolysate detoxification and hydrogen production.