The objective of the project is to optimize the production of citric acid from renewable sources using microbiological fermentation. Citric acid is used in various industries, the demand for which is growing every year. It is used in the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, industrial biotechnology industries. Microbiological fermentation will be used to grow fungal cultures of Aspergillus niger. One of the aim is to identify the most suitable source of carbon to extract citric acid. During the fermentation, industrial waste containing saccharides will be used in the nutrient media, thus reducing the amount of waste. The yield of citric acid varies depending on the composition of the medium, the saccharide and the type of fungus used. The project goal is to extract the highest amount of citric acid from different fermentation media using renewable carbon sources and industrial waste. The use of alternative renewable sources in citric acid production would reduce the cost of raw materials and create a sustainable environment in the circular bioeconomy. The project will cover knowledge and skills in industrial biotechnology, metabolomics, environmental biotechnology, plant biotechnology, sustainable circular bioeconomy.
Project funding:
Project is funded by EU Structural Funds according to the 2014–2020 Operational Programme for the European Union Funds’ Investments priority “Development of scientific competence of researchers, other researchers, students through practical scientific activities” under Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712.
Project results:
The student-researcher, during the project activities, will be able to work under sterile conditions, will acquire skills to grow fungal cultures and to isolate citric acid and to use it for biotechnological purposes. A final project report will be presented.
Period of project implementation: 2019-10-15 - 2020-06-30
Project coordinator: Kaunas University of Technology
