Jiaju Wang , Qi Lin , Wei Zhou

Biotechnology Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, China
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Energy Bioscience, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 5   doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0027
Received: 19 Jul., 2024    Accepted: 29 Aug., 2024    Published: 17 Sep., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Wang J.J., Lin Q., and Zhou W., 2024, Process study on microbial conversion of kitchen waste into biodiesel, Journal of Energy Bioscience, 15(5): 289-300 (doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0027)

This study explores the microbial process of converting kitchen waste into biodiesel, with a focus on identifying efficient microbial strains and optimizing the conversion process. The study identified several key findings. First, the filamentous fungi Mortierella isabellina NRRL 1757 demonstrated high lipid productivity and versatility when grown on various waste substrates, including glycerol, orange peel extract, and ricotta cheese whey, with lipid productivities of 0.46, 1.24, and 0.91 g/(L d), respectively. Additionally, the fatty acid profile of the produced lipids was highly compatible with biodiesel production, similar to commonly used palm and Jatropha oils. Another significant discovery was the use of the algae strain Golenkinia sp. SDEC-16, which showed the highest power density, biomass concentration, and total lipid content when used in microbial fuel cells with kitchen waste anaerobically digested effluent, achieving a lipid content of 38%. Furthermore, the bacterium Klebsiella variicola TB-83 was found to produce ethanol efficiently from biodiesel-derived glycerol under alkaline conditions, with a maximum ethanol production of 9.8 g/L. The findings of this study suggest that microbial conversion of kitchen waste into biodiesel is a viable and sustainable approach. The identified microbial strains, particularly Mortierella isabellina NRRL 1757 and Golenkinia sp. SDEC-16, show great potential for high lipid production, making them suitable candidates for biodiesel manufacturing. Additionally, the ability of Klebsiella variicola TB-83 to produce ethanol from biodiesel waste further supports the feasibility of integrating waste-to-energy processes.

Microbial conversion; Kitchen waste; Biodiesel; Mortierella isabellina; Golenkinia sp.; Klebsiella variicola; Lipid production; Ethanol production