Hydrogen production by Clostridium cellulolyticum a cellulolytic and hydrogen-producing bacteria using sugarcane bagasse

Hydrogen (H2) production by Clostridium cellulolyticum was investigated. Anaerobic batch reactors were operated with cellobiose (2 g/L) and pretreated sugarcane bagasse (SCB) (2 g/L) using a hydrothermal system to observe the effects of carbon source on H2 production. Salts (NH4Cl, NaCl, MgCl2 and CaCl2) and vitamins (biotin, nicotinamide, p-aminobenzoic acid, thiamine, pantothenic acid, pyridoxamine, cyanocobalamin, riboflavin, folic and lipoic acid) were supplemented from stock solutions at different volumes percentages, ranging from 0 to 5%. The optimal concentration was 2.5% and the strain used both substrates and produced H2 which was higher for cellobiose (14.9±0.2 mmol/L) than for SCB (7.6±0.2 mmol/L), although the phase was much smaller when SCB (59.9 h) was used in relation to the assay with cellobiose (164 h). H2 was produced from SCB primarily through the fermentation of lactic and acetic acids.