Production of Lactic Acid from Banana Peels

Abstract

The research aimed to optimize lactic acid production from banana peels, a valuable organic acid source, using Bacillus coagulans as the fermenting agent. The banana peels underwent pre-treatment, including washing, sun-drying, milling, sieving, and immersion in an Oxalic acid solution to remove impurities. The Bacillus coagulans inoculum was prepared in a YEX medium, and fermentation occurred by introducing treated banana peels, yeast extract, and the inoculum to the fermentation medium at various temperatures and times. Lactic acid, the response variable, was optimized using a Central Composite Design (CCD) with time and temperature as factors. Response surface methodology (RSM) suggested a quadratic model, and a calibration curve was constructed to determine lactic acid concentration using both titration and spectrophotometric methods. The results indicated that the optimal conditions for lactic acid production were 48 hours of fermentation time and a temperature of 35°C, resulting in a lactic acid concentration of 4.533 g/l. FTIR characterization confirmed the chemical composition of the lactic acid produced. This study demonstrates that banana peels can be a valuable source of lactic acid, and the method can be scaled up for commercial production