Orange peels: from by‐product to resource through lactic acid fermentation

BACKGROUND Considering the large amounts of by‐products derived from orange processing, which are generally discarded, the present study aimed to explore the feasibility of using orange peel for lactic acid production in solid state fermentation. RESULTS Different species of lactic acid bacteria were employed, singly and in co‐culture, to evaluate their ability to ferment orange peel and produce lactic acid. Among the single cultures tested, Lactobacillus casei 2246 was the most efficient strain, reaching the highest concentration of lactic acid (209.65 g kg−1) and yield (0.88 g g−1). The use of Lactobacillus plantarum 285 and Lactobacillus paracasei 4186 in co‐culture produced a comparable amount of lactic acid, showing a better performance than the same strains in single cultures. CONCLUSION Orange peels represent a suitable raw material for solid state fermentation employing lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid was obtained that consumed the most of sugars available, leading to high yields. Despite all the strains tested showing the same growth ability, different peculiarities in lactic acid production were revealed, dependent on the species/strains, suggesting the relevance of strain selection. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry