Conversion of chitinous wastes to hydrogen gas by clostridium paraputrificum M-21

• Published in: Journal of bioscience and bioengineering 2001, Vol.91 (4), p.339-343
• Main Authors: Evvyernie, Dwierra, Morimoto, Kenji, Karita, Shuichi, Kimura, Tetsuya, Sakka, Kazuo, Ohmiya, Kunio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bioconversions. Hemisynthesis; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; CHITIN; chitinase; CLOSTRIDIUM; Clostridium paraputrificum; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; HYDROGEN; hydrogen production; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; PRAWNS AND SHRIMPS; SHELL; shrimp shell; Use and upgrading of agricultural and food by-products. Biotechnology; waste; WASTES
• ISSN: 1389-1723; 1347-4421
• DOI: 10.1016/S1389-1723(01)80148-1

The chitinolytic bacterium Clostridium paraputrificum strain M-21 produced 2.2 and 1.5 mol hydrogen gas from 1 mol N-acetyl- d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and ball-milled chitin equivalent to 1 mol of GlcNAc, respectively, at pH 6.0. In addition, strain M-21 efficiently degraded and fermented ball-milled raw shrimp and lobster shells to produce hydrogen gas: 11.4 mmol H 2 from 2.6 g of the former and 7.8 mmol H 2 from 1.5 g of the latter. Hydrogen evolution from these shell wastes were enhanced two fold by employing acid and alkali pretreatment. Waste from the starch industry was also converted to hydrogen. When C. paraputrificum M-21 was cultivated on ball-milled chitin and ball-milled shrimp shells for 14 and 12 h, respectively, chitinases ChiA and/or ChiB were detected as the major chitinase species in the supernatant of the cultures, suggesting that the play a critical role in the degradation of chitinous materials.