Production of lactic acid from organic wastes using lactic acid bacteria

The fermentative production of lactic acid (LA) with organic wastes is one of the effective solutions in wastes recycling. Several factors affecting the fermentative LA production with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were discussed, including microorganism, nutrient substrate, end-product inhibition, and oxygen. Furthermore, the status quo of the production of lactic acid with starchy and cellulosic and kitchen wastes was summarized and the tendencies of future research and development were indicated. Meanwhile, it was pointed out that with homofermentative LAB, recirculation of cells and in situ production removal (IS-PR) technology under anaerobic condition, LA yield could be increased and co-inoculation of various LAB with the optimizing LA separation technique could help to the industrialization of LA production with organic wastes.