Modern microbial solid state fermentation technology for future biorefineries for the production of added-value products

Document Type : Review Paper

Authors

1 Enzyme and Fermentation Technology Programme, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Persiaran MARDI – UPM, 43400 Serdang, Selangor Malaysia.

2 School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom.

Abstract

The promise of industrial biotechnology has been around since Chaim Weizmann developed acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation at the University of Manchester in 1917 and the prospects nowadays look brighter than ever. Today’s biorefinery technologies would be almost unthinkable without biotechnology. This is a growing trend and biorefineries have also increased in importance in agriculture and the food industry. Novel biorefinery processes using solid state fermentation (SSF) technology have been developed as alternative to conventional processing routes, leading to the production of added-value products from agriculture and food industry raw materials. SSF involves the growth of microorganisms on moist solid substrate in the absence of free-flowing water. Future biorefineries based on SSF aim to exploit the vast complexity of the technology to modify biomass produced by agriculture and the food industry for valuable by-products through microbial bioconversion. In this review, a summary has been made of the attempts at using modern microbial SSF technology for future biorefineries for the production of many added-value products ranging from feedstock for the fermentation process and biodegradable plastics to fuels and chemicals.

Graphical Abstract

Modern microbial solid state fermentation technology for future biorefineries for the production of added-value products

Highlights

  • Novel biorefinery processes using solid state fermentation technology (SSF) was reviewed and discussed.
  • Future biorefineries based on SSF serve as ideal platforms for the production of added-value products.
  • Generic fermentation feedstocks provide a complete nutrient for subsequent microbial fermentations.

Keywords


[122] Stylist. 23 February 2011; Issue 66, pp. 39-42.