RESUMO

The purpose of the present work was to show, as a first stage, that it is possible to characterize autochtohnous strains of Clostridium acetobutilicum of a good solvent producing capacity, specially N-butanol, through the utilization of suitable techniques for isolating anaerobic microorganisms. Cassava roots were employed as raw material using suitable culture media and an anaerobic jar of cold catalyst. The fermentative capacity of the strains thus isolated was evaluated against a control strain of Clostridium acetobutilicum. Even though some of the strains showed a greater solvent producing power, most of them showed lower fermentation capacity than the control strain, which could be increased, by applying successive thermic treatments. As a second stage, and due to the low cost production of cassava in the Province of Misiones, we studied its utilization as an acetone-butanol fermentation substrate. Mashes composed of binary mixtures of cassava flour and variable amounts of integral flour maize or soy were treated with selected "starters" of Clostridium acetobutilicum, being further processed according to standardized techniques in order to obtain the already mentioned solvents. Mashes concentration influence was also studied using culture media the composition of which proved to be excellent in all experiments carried out under "static system" conditions. The highest fermentative yields (maximum value recorded: 26,20 g of total solvents, with respect to dry solids), were recorded for mashes obtained from mixtures containing integral maize flour; these showed a higher degree of nutrients utilization than those prepared with integral soy flour.

Assuntos

RESUMO

The purpose of the present work was to show, as a first stage, that it is possible to characterize autochtohnous strains of Clostridium acetobutilicum of a good solvent producing capacity, specially N-butanol, through the utilization of suitable techniques for isolating anaerobic microorganisms. Cassava roots were employed as raw material using suitable culture media and an anaerobic jar of cold catalyst. The fermentative capacity of the strains thus isolated was evaluated against a control strain of Clostridium acetobutilicum. Even though some of the strains showed a greater solvent producing power, most of them showed lower fermentation capacity than the control strain, which could be increased, by applying successive thermic treatments. As a second stage, and due to the low cost production of cassava in the Province of Misiones, we studied its utilization as an acetone-butanol fermentation substrate. Mashes composed of binary mixtures of cassava flour and variable amounts of integral flour maize or soy were treated with selected [quot ]starters[quot ] of Clostridium acetobutilicum, being further processed according to standardized techniques in order to obtain the already mentioned solvents. Mashes concentration influence was also studied using culture media the composition of which proved to be excellent in all experiments carried out under [quot ]static system[quot ] conditions. The highest fermentative yields (maximum value recorded: 26,20 g of total solvents, with respect to dry solids), were recorded for mashes obtained from mixtures containing integral maize flour; these showed a higher degree of nutrients utilization than those prepared with integral soy flour.