Production of Acetic Acid by Fermentation Using Sugar Beet Molasses

Abstract

Background: Acetic acid is a molecule central to biochemistry and is produced in some amount by nearly all forms of life. Aim: Production of acetic acid from sugar beet molasses by the process of fermentation using the suitable yeasts Method: Ethanol was produced from sugar beet molasses having (10% and 12% sugar concentration.) using the suitable yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Saccharomyces pastorianus with or without 2% fruit ingredients at a high pitching rate, controlled pH 5.5, and constant temperature 40OC. This ethanol was converted to acetic acid by the oxidative method. Results: In both cases, 10% or 12% sugar concentration; Saccharomyces cerevisiae with 2% fruit ingredients produced a large amount of alcohol, 4.6 and 4.9 gm/100ml respectively, and it produced 4.8 ml of acetic acid. On the other hand, Saccharomyces pastorianus with 2% fruit ingredients produced 2.8 and 2.7 gm/100ml alcohols respectively, which correspond to 2.7 ml of acetic acid. Conclusion: This work has confirmed that the production of acetic acid from sugar beet molasses is technically possible by fermentation with the consumption of specific yeast by the use of fruit ingredients. Furthermore, Saccharomyces cerevisiae produced large quantity of ethanol. Changing the sugar concentration from 10% to 12% did not had any impact on the quantity of ethanol produced.