Low-severity EDA pretreatment of oil palm empty fruit bunch for lactic acid production by Rhizopus microsporus

Jasni, Ainil Hawa and Azmi, Azlin Suhaida and Mohamad Puad, Noor Illi and Ali, Fathilah and Ahmad Nor, Yusilawati (2026) Low-severity EDA pretreatment of oil palm empty fruit bunch for lactic acid production by Rhizopus microsporus. Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering Journal, 10 (1). pp. 1-11. E-ISSN 2637-0719

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Abstract

Lactic acid (LA) is a platform chemical with wide-ranging applications in the bioplastics, food, and pharmaceutical industries. However, its sustainable production is challenged by high feedstock costs and inefficient fermentation processes, particularly when using lignocellulosic biomass. This study investigates an integrated approach for LA production from palm oil empty fruit bunches (EFB) using Rhizopus microsporus. The methodology involved a two-stage process. First, EFB was pretreated with ethylenediamine (EDA) under mild conditions (5.5% v/v, 30°C) to disrupt the lignocellulosic structure. The pretreated biomass was then subjected to fungal fermentation, where key parameters including flask size, neutralizing agents, substrate loading, temperature, inoculum size, and agitation speed were systematically optimized to promote fungal pellet formation. Results indicated that EDA pretreatment significantly enhanced sugar accessibility, reducing crystallinity by 45% and increasing reducing sugar yield by 78.3%. Fermentation under optimized conditions (500 mL flask, 100 rpm, 37°C, double inoculum size, and CaCO? as a neutralizing agent) yielded a maximum LA titer and yield of 3.15 ± 0.25 g/L and 0.063 ± 0.005 g/g EFB, respectively. This work demonstrates that combining EDA pretreatment with optimal fungal fermentation parameters offers an effective integrated strategy to enhance LA production from lignocellulosic waste.

Item Type:	Article (Journal)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Ethylenediamine pretreatment, Empty fruit bunch (EFB), fungal fermentation, Rhizopus microsporus, lactic acid production.
Subjects:	T Technology > TP Chemical technology > TP248.13 Biotechnology
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Engineering > Department of Biotechnology Engineering
Depositing User:	Noor Illi Mohamad Puad
Date Deposited:	18 Sep 2026 17:40
Last Update:	18 Sep 2026 17:40
Queue Number:	2026-09-Q5142
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/131314
Indexed In:	Google Scholar, MyCite

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