Potential Utilization of Sap from Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) for Lactic Acid Production by Lactobacillus casei

Abstract

Lactic acid is a product that has several applications in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the potential use of sap of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) as a substrate for lactic acid production by Lactobacillus casei TISTR 1500. The effects of constant pH at 5.5 in a 2 L bioreactor and supplementary de Man, Rogosa, Sharpe (MRS) medium with oil palm sap as a carbon source on fermentation performance were investigated. In this report, when oil palm sap was used as a carbon source for L. casei TISTR 1500, constant pH at 5.5 did not significantly affect lactic acid production. The addition of MRS medium improved the biomass and the product yield of oil palm sap. Fermentation runs pH-unfixed gave an improved productivity of 0.55 g L^-1 h^-1 during the fermentation containing 100 mL of oil palm sap (20 g L^-1 of total sugars) supplemented MRS medium in flasks under static condition at 37°C. Oil palm sap could serve as a good potential source of raw materials for the efficient production of lactic acid by L. casei TISTR 1500.