One-pot biosynthesis of furfuryl alcohol and lactic acid via a glucose coupled biphasic system using single Bacillus coagulans NL01

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2020-10, Vol.313, p.123705-123705, Article 123705
• Main Authors: Bu, Chong-Yang, Yan, Yu-Xiu, Zou, Li-Hua, Zheng, Zhao-Juan, Ouyang, Jia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacillus coagulans NL01; Biphasic catalysis; Furfural; Furfuryl alcohol; Lactic acid
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123705

•The biphasic system shows a boosting effect for furfuryl alcohol production.•Furfuryl alcohol and lactic acid were produced simultaneously in this system.•The system realized nearly complete conversion of both furfural and glucose. Furfuryl alcohol is an important reduction product from biomass derived furfural. This study developed one-pot biosynthesis of furfuryl alcohol and lactic acid by a glucose coupled biphasic system using single Bacillus coagulans NL01. Water/dioctyl phthalate is chosen as biphasic system to alleviate the toxicity of furfural and furfuryl alcohol. Under the optimal conditions, the high-concentration conversion (208 mM) of furfural was successfully converted in 6 h reaction with 98% furfural conversion and 88% furfuryl alcohol selectivity. Notably, glucose as co-substrate could be effectively converted to lactic acid in this biphasic system. About 264 mM furfuryl alcohol and 64.2 g/L lactic acid were simultaneously produced from 310 mM furfural and 71.3 g/L glucose within 8.5 h by a fed-batch strategy. The developed approach can not only increase the produced furfuryl alcohol concentration but also reduce the cost of overall approach by lactic acid co-production, indicating its potential for industrial applications.