Hindawi

Journal of Chemistry
Volume 2019, Article ID 8356712, 8 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8356712

Research Article
Fermentation of Musa paradisiaca Peels to Produce Citric Acid

Mariel Monrroy ,1,2 Lineth Rueda,1,2 Anaı́s L. Aparicio,1,2 and José Renán Garcı́a 1,2

1
Centro de Investigación en Bioquı́mica y Quı́mica Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas,
Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquı́, David, Panama
2
Departamento de Quı́mica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquı́, David, Panama

Correspondence should be addressed to José Renán Garcı́a; joregam@gmail.com

Received 6 March 2019; Revised 18 May 2019; Accepted 18 June 2019; Published 18 August 2019

Academic Editor: Yiannis Kourkoutas

Copyright © 2019 Mariel Monrroy et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.

Among organic acids, citric acid (CA) features the highest production volume and the greatest economic potential. The steadily
increasing demand for CA necessitates the improvement and diversification of the corresponding production techniques via the
incorporation of more environmentally friendly and less costly processes such as the bioconversion of agroindustrial by-products.
Musa paradisiaca, known as plantain, is a food product of global importance; however, the related by-products are scarcely
utilized. Herein, we investigate CA production from M. paradisiaca peels via fermentation with Aspergillus niger. Compositional
analysis shows that the above peels contain 623 g·kg− 1 total carbohydrates, 374 g·kg− 1 starch, and 91 g·kg− 1 protein and therefore
are rather rich in carbon, with other elements contained in substantial amounts corresponding to K (28 g·kg− 1), N (10 g·kg− 1), Fe
(39 mg·kg− 1), Na (71 mg·kg− 1), Zn (16 mg·kg− 1), and Cu (18 mg·kg− 1). Evaluation of solid-substrate fermentation conditions (pH
and inoculum loading) reveals that CA production is maximized (29 g·kg− 1) at 10% consistency, 30°C, pH 1.4, and inoculum
loading � 20 mg, demonstrating that pH is the most important parameter determining fermentation efficiency. As a result, M.
paradisiaca peels are concluded to be a suitable substrate for CA biosynthesis via fermentation with A. niger under optimal
nutritional conditions.

1. Introduction production, with the most effective ones characterized by

Citric acid (CA; 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid),
one of the most important and versatile among the currently
produced organic acids, is widely used in food, cosmetics,
agricultural, pharmaceutical, chemical, and metallurgical
industries [1–3] because of its antioxidant, pH-regulating,
acidulant, and metal ion-sequestering properties. The
worldwide commercial demand for CA in 2017 equaled
1,977 kilotons [4] and is expected to increase by 3.5–4%
every year [5].
CA is largely obtained through fermentation by fungi,
bacteria, and yeasts [6], e.g., by species of the genera As-
pergillus, Citromyces, Penicillium, Monilia, Candida, Pichia,
Arthrobacter, Trichoderma, Bacillus, and Corynebacterium
ssp. and yeasts such as Candida tropicalis, C. oleophila, C.
guilliermondii, C. citroformans, Hansenula anamola, and
Yarrowia lipolytica [7–10]. Aspergillus species, especially A.
niger, are the ones most widely used for this type of
low activities of isocitrate dehydrogenase and aconitase
hydratase and a high activity of citrate synthetase [11, 12].
Industrially, CA is produced by fermentation of sucrose-
containing media such as cane and beet molasses [6].
However, some studies have shown that CA can also be
produced by solid-state fermentation (SSF) of low-cost
agroindustrial by-products such as apple pulp, banana peel,
cassava bagasse, coffee husk, corn cob, mango peel, orange
peel, papaya peel, pineapple waste, sugar cane bagasse, and
others [12–26] (Table 1).
Agroindustrial by-products represent one of the most
abundant and potentially more valuable materials on the
planet. They constitute a renewable resource from which
many useful biological and chemical products can be derived
[27–31]. The agroindustrial waste produced globally is
scarcely used, and much of it remains as waste in the en-
vironment. For example, thousands of tons of plantain
(Musa paradisiaca) and banana (Musa sapientum) peel are
2 Journal of Chemistry

Table 1: Citric acid production by solid-state fermentation of low-cost agroindustrial by-products.

Citric acid
Substrate Organism Fermentation conditions Reference
content
A. niger van Tieghem
Apple pomace 30°C and 120 h 46 g·kg− 1 Kumar et al. [13]
MTCC 281
−1
30°C, 96 h, 10 g·L methanol, and 10 ppm
Banana peel A. niger UABN 210 82 g·kg− 1 Kareem and Rahman [14]
copper ions
30°C, 0.5% consistency, pH 4.5, 6%
Cassava peel A. niger mutant strain 89 g·L− 1 Adeoye et al. [15]
inoculum, and 84 h
30°C, pH 4.5, 72 h, and 50% moisture Shankaranand and
Coffee husk A. niger 150 g·kg− 1
content Lonsane [16]
28°C, 144 h, 150 g·kg− 1 sucrose, and 50%
Corn cob A. niger 138 g·kg− 1 Addo et al. [17]
consistency
−1
Corn grains A. niger ATCC 9142 25°C, 240 h, and 82% moisture content 6 g·kg Xie and West [18]
Coconut husk A. niger KLCN2 30°C, 168 h, and 55% moisture content 128.6 g·kg− 1 Lingappa et al. [19]
Mango peels A. niger 32°C, pH 5, 192 h, and 11% consistency 30 g·L− 1 Abbas et al. [20]
28°C, pH 4.5, 72 h, 20% fructose, and
Oat bran A. niger 62 g·kg− 1 Rao and Reddy [21]
2.5 g·L− 1 NH4NO3
° −1
Orange peel A. niger CECT-2090 30 C, 84 h, and 70% moisture content 193 g·kg Torrado et al. [22]
Sweet orange peels A. niger 32°C, pH 4, 144 h, and 11% consistency 11 g·L− 1 Abbas et al. [20]
Pineapple waste A. niger KS-7 30°C, 120 h, and 65% moisture content 6 g·kg− 1 Kareem et al. [23]
Sugar cane bagasse A. niger 30°C, pH 5, and 65% moisture content 3.5 g·kg− 1 Sharan et al. [24]
Beet root pulp waste 3.4 g·kg− 1
Guava pulp waste 4.8 g·kg− 1
Indian jujube pulp
4 g·kg− 1
waste
Room temperature (min 22°C–max 32°C),
Papaya pulp waste A. niger ATCC 16404 3.8 g·kg− 1 Bezalwar et al. [25]
192 h, and 6% moisture content
Pineapple pulp
5 g·kg− 1
waste
Wood apple pulp
5.5 g·kg− 1
waste
Grape residues 34.4 g·kg− 1
30°C, pH 2.1–3.1, after 24 h, 40 g·L− 1
Mosambi peel A. niger 28.6 g·kg− 1 Goud et al. [26]
methanol, and 70% moisture content
Sugar cane bagasse 24.9 g·kg− 1
These substrates beet root pulp waste, guava pulp waste, Indian jujube pulp waste, papaya pulp waste, pineapple pulp waste, wood apple pulp waste, belong to
the reference Bezalwar et al. [25]. The substrates grape residues, mosambi peel, sugar cane bagasse belong to the reference Goud et al. [26]

produced annually in the tropics, which is a nuisance to the
environment [32, 33]. These wastes can be microbially de-
graded and simultaneously converted into novel materials or
new products for industrial applications. Recently, banana peel
has been utilized for various applications [34–37], including
CA production. Kareem and Rahman [14] reported a high
production of CA (82 g·kg− 1 dry weight) after 96 h of growth at
30°C in the presence of methanol and copper ions. On the other
hand, plantain peels have not been evaluated much for in-
dustrial applications, and one of the few studies investigated it
as a source of dietary fiber and antioxidant compounds [38].
Nevertheless, plantains are one of the important food crops in
many developing nations and are grown in more than 100
countries in the tropics and subtropics [39], including Panama,
where it is of great gastronomic importance because of its high
starch and potassium contents. The Panamanian industry
produces and commercializes packaged fried plantains, leaving
a large amount of peels with potential industrial application as
wastes. Thus, this agroindustrial by-product can be converted
into a variety of chemicals and value-added products such as
CA through the fermentation process.
Notably, the production of CA by fermentation is strongly
influenced by carbon-source type and concentration, pH, ni-
trogen and phosphorus limitations and trace element-
controlled concentrations [6, 10]. One of the important ad-
vantages of SSF is that it obviates the large requirements of
nitrogen and phosphorus due to the lower diffusion rates of
nutrients from the substrate. In addition, unlike in submerged
fermentation, the presence of trace elements in the material does
not affect CA production in the SSF process [6, 12, 40]. Studies
on CA production by a SSF system showed no such influence
despite the high concentrations of metal ions in the substrate. In
contrast, supplementation with additional amounts of mineral
ions increased the production of CA by 1.4–1.9 times [41].
The search for low-cost and easily accessible raw materials
that can be used as fermentable substrates (C sources) is
currently one of the most interesting challenges of bio-
technology. There are several agroindustrial substrates of
great potential that can be used for the production of CA, such
as Musa paradisiaca (plantain) peel, a substrate with a high
potential for obtaining various substances.
In Panama, plantain peels are not utilized for any particular
purpose and are therefore promising raw materials for the
production of industrially valuable chemicals. Therefore, we
herein investigate CA production by fermentation of M.
paradisiaca peel with A. niger and establish optimal operation
conditions. This is one of the first works on the use of this
substrate for obtaining CA by SSF.
Journal of Chemistry
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Raw Materials and Chemicals. Samples of M. paradisiaca
peels provided by a local supplier were dried for 48 h at 50°C,
milled, and stored in plastic bags under dry conditions until
use. All chemicals were of analytical grade.
2.2. Compositional Analysis. Samples were analyzed for
starch, total carbohydrate, reducing sugar, protein, and
mineral contents. All analyses were performed in triplicate.
Total carbohydrate and starch contents were determined by
the phenol-sulfuric acid method. For total carbohydrate
quantitation, a test tube containing the sample (0.1 g) and
HCl (5 mL, 2.5 N) was heated in a water bath at 95°C for 3 h.
The resulting suspension was neutralized with Na2CO3,
diluted with water (5 mL), and centrifuged. The dilution/
centrifugation process was repeated four more times The
supernatant volume was adjusted to 100 mL with water, and
a 0.1 mL aliquot of this solution was treated with 50 g·L− 1
aqueous phenol (1 mL) and concentrated 96% H2SO4
(5 mL), vortexed for 1 min, and heated at 30°C for 20 min in
a water bath. For starch content determination, a dispersion
of the sample (0.1 g) in hot 800 ml·L− 1 ethanol (8 mL) in a
test tube was stirred for 1 min and then centrifuged at
3500 rpm for 10 min. The supernatant was removed, and the
dispersion/centrifugation/supernatant removal process was
repeated three more times. The residue was extracted with a
mixture of water (5 mL) and HClO4 (6.5 mL) at 4°C for
20 min, treated with water (20 mL), and centrifuged. The
extraction-dilution-centrifugation process was repeated two
more times. The combined extracts were diluted to 100 mL
with water, and a 0.1 mL aliquot of the obtained solution was
treated with 50 g·L− 1 aqueous phenol (1 mL) and concen-
trated (96%) H2SO4 (5 mL), vortexed for 1 min, and heated
at 30°C for 20 min in a water bath. Finally, total carbohydrate
and starch contents were determined by visible-light spec-
trophotometry at a wavelength of 490 nm using a calibration
curve prepared with glucose as a standard.
Reducing sugars were quantified by visible-light spec-
trophotometry at a wavelength of 540 nm using the dini-
trosalicylic acid (DNS) method [42]. Typically, a suspension
of the sample (0.1 g) in hot 800 ml·L− 1 ethanol (8 mL)
contained in a test tube was heated in a water bath at 95°C for
10 min and then centrifuged at 2500 rpm for 5 min. The
supernatant was collected, ethanol was evaporated in a water
bath at 80°C, and the obtained residue was treated with water
(10 mL). A 0.7 mL aliquot of this solution was transferred
into a test tube and treated with the DNS reagent (1.5 mL).
The resulting mixture was heated in a boiling water bath for
5 min and then brought to room temperature in a water bath
held at 25°C. Finally, the content of reducing sugars was
determined from the absorbance of the cooled mixture at
540 nm using a calibration curve prepared with glucose as a
standard. DNS reagent was prepared by dissolving with
stirring 0.748 g dinitrosalicylic acid, 0.564 g crystalline
phenol, 21.612 g Rochelle salt, 1.412 g NaOH, and 0.564 g
sodium sulphite in 100 mL.
The total nitrogen concentration was determined by the
Kjeldahl method (AOAC 976.05) [43]. For mineral content
3
determination, the ashed sample was dissolved in hydro-
chloric acid, and the resulting solution was analyzed by
atomic absorption spectroscopy according to AOAC
Method 984.27.
2.3. Growth of the A. niger Strain and Preparation of the
Corresponding Inoculum. The employed A. niger ATCC
6275 strain was conserved in Petri dishes with 40 g·L− 1
potato dextrose agar incubated at 30°C. To obtain the in-
oculum, spores were harvested from PDA cultures after
seven days of growth using a 1 g·L− 1 Tween 80 solution.
Spore counting was carried out in a Neubauer chamber until
the required final concentration of 106 to 108 mL− 1 was
obtained. The resulting suspensions were used as inoculum.
The inoculum mass was determined by gravimetry, in which
a determined volume of the spore suspension was placed on
a filter paper, the remaining residue was dried at 105°C for
1 h, and the dry weight was calculated.
2.4. Solid-State Fermentation. Fermentation was carried out
at 10% consistency in an Erlenmeyer flask (125 mL) as a
fermenter. The fermenter was charged with the sample (5 g,
dry base), a nutrient solution previously autoclaved at 121°C
for 15 min (50 mL; NH4Cl (1 g·L− 1), KH2PO4 (3 g·L− 1), and
MgSO4·7H2O (1.5 g·L− 1)) [44], and the inoculum. The effects
of pH (1.4–5.6) and inoculum loading (8–37 mg) were
evaluated by a central composite design to optimize CA yield
(Tables 2 and 3). The reaction mixture was incubated at 30°C
and 150 rpm for eight days, and CA content was quantified
every 24 h. Additionally, fermentation was evaluated for a
wet substrate (70% humidity) previously supplemented with
the abovementioned nutrient solution. The flask containing
the wet substrate was supplemented with the inoculum
(15 mg) and incubated at 30°C and 150 rpm for 10 days, with
CA quantitation performed every 48 h. After fermentation,
25 ml water was added to the flask and it was agitated for
10 min on a rotary shaker to extract CA. The mixture was
filtered through a Whatman filter paper no. 41, and the
supernatant was used for the estimation of CA.
2.5. CA Determination. The produced CA was quantified
using the pyridine-acetic acid spectrophotometric method.
Typically, an aliquot of filtered fermentation broth (500 μL)
was placed in a test tube, treated with glacial acetic acid
(4 mL), and heated at 60°C for 10 min in a water bath.
Subsequently, pyridine (500 μL) was added, and heating was
continued for another 40 min. The reaction mixture was
allowed to cool for 10 min, and CA was quantified by visible-
light spectrophotometry at a wavelength of 420 nm using a
calibration curve constructed with CA as a standard. All
determinations were carried out in duplicate.
2.6. Statistical Analysis. To determine the conditions re-
quired for maximum CA production by the fermentation
process, the variables, pH and inoculum loading, were
studied. The influence of each variable was determined by
response surface methodology (RSM) [45]. The model was
4 Journal of Chemistry
Table 2: Experimental design for fermentation of M. paradisiaca peels.
Variables
− 1.41 −1
pH 1.4 2 3.5
Inoculum loading (mg) 3 8
Table 3: Effects of pH and inoculum loading on CA production.
Experiment number pH (code level) Inoculum loading (mg) (code level)
1 2 (− 1) 8 (− 1)
2 5 (1) 8 (− 1)
3 2 (− 1) 32 (1)
4 5 (1) 32 (1)
5 1.4 (− 1.41) 20 (0)
6 5.6 (1.41) 20 (0)
7 3.5 (0) 3 (− 1.41)
8 3.5 (0) 37 (1.41)
9 3.5 (0) 20 (0)
10 3.5 (0) 20 (0)
11 3.5 (0) 20 (0)
based on a central composite circumscribed design con-
sisting of a factorial design 23 and star points. The variable
values were coded and normalized in unitary values: − 1 was
defined as the lowest value of a variable and +1 was defined
as the highest value. From the extreme variable values, the
central point (coded 0) was set and assayed in triplicate for
calculation of errors in the experiments. Four star points
distributed at a distance of 1.41 from the central point were
included. Hence, 11 design points were used in total. The
complete experimental design is presented in Table 2.
A second-order function that best describes the system’s
behavior was determined by a multiple linear regression
method (MLR). The statistical validation was performed by a
one-way ANOVA test with 95% confidence level. The op-
timal condition values were determined based on the re-
sponse surface calculated using the SIMPLEX method [45].
All the calculations were performed with the software
Modde 12.0 (Umetrics, USA).
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Chemical Composition of M. paradisiaca Peel. The total
carbohydrate, starch, reducing sugar, and protein contents
of plantain peel were determined as 623 ± 20, 374 ± 2, 33 ± 3,
and 91 ± 1 g·kg− 1, respectively, which showed that this
material was rather rich in carbon and protein. Similar
results have been reported by other authors. For example,
Anchundia et al. [46] determined the content of starch in
edible films based on M. paradisiaca peel as 380 g·kg− 1, while
Monsalve et al. [47] reported that this peel contained
400 g·kg− 1 starch. Agama-Acevedo et al. [38] and Emaga
et al. [48] determined the protein contents of Musa para-
disiaca and Musa spp. peels as 10 and 80–100 g·kg− 1,
respectively.
The contents of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg in M. paradisiaca
peel were determined as 10, 0.7, 28, 0.4, and 0.6 g·kg− 1,
respectively, while those of Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Na were
determined as 38.6, 17.6, 0.15, 15.6, and 71.2 mg·kg− 1,
Coded levels
0 1 1.41
5 5.6
20 32 37
CA (g·kg− 1) experimental CA (g·kg− 1) calculated
17.8 ± 0.5 19.3
11.5 ± 0.4 10.0
19.0 ± 0.8 21.5
7.9 ± 0.4 7.7
29 ± 1 26.4
8.9 ± 0.4 10.2
11 ± 1 11.1
12.3 ± 0.7 10.9
11 ± 2 12.3
11 ± 2 12.3
14 ± 2 12.3
respectively. The content of P (required for ATP/ADP
formation [49]) that is needed for CA production has been
estimated as 0.5–5 g·L− 1 [6], and a K content of
0.28 g·L− 1 has been shown to result in enhanced CA
production [49]. The level of N required for CA pro-
duction ranges between 0.1 and 0.4 g·L− 1 [12] and has a
great effect on the production of CA because this element
is found in proteins and contributes to the development of
cellular metabolism [23]. However, high nitrogen levels
increase the consumption of sugars and the growth of
fungi, decreasing CA production [50]. Finally, optimal Mg
levels have been determined as 0.19 g·L− 1·Mg2+ [51]. Al-
though the levels of the above macronutrients in the raw
material utilized herein were high, the corresponding
levels in fermentation mixtures were low and substrate
supplementation was therefore required.
On the contrary, certain trace elements such as Zn, Mn,
Fe, and Cu are also important for CA production [6, 52]. For
example, the optimal levels of Fe and Zn for CA production
have been determined as 1.3 and 0.3 mg·L− 1, respectively [7].
Kareem and Rahman [14] showed that the presence of Fe
and Mn has a detrimental effect on the accumulation of CA,
whereas the opposite was true for Zn and Cu. Since the
contents of these trace elements in M. paradisiaca peels were
higher than optimal, fermentation experiments were per-
formed under two conditions, namely, with the solid sub-
strate at 10% consistency and with a wet solid substrate (70%
moisture, 30% consistency), both of which were previously
supplemented with a nutrient solution. Nevertheless, one of
the great advantages of solid-substrate fermentation is that
trace elements may not negatively affect CA production,
contrary to the case of submerged fermentation, when
microelements can dissolve in the medium [6, 12, 40].
3.2. CA Production. The maximal levels of CA in mixtures
fermented at 10% consistency were observed on the fourth
day (96 h) (Figure 1) and ranged from 7.9 to 29 g·kg− 1 dry
Journal of Chemistry 5

35 Table 4: ANOVA of the model.

30 MS P
Source DF SS F
(variance) value
25
Total 11 2497.03 227.00
CA (g·kg–1)

20 Constant 1 2136.44 2136.44

15 Total corrected 10 360.59 36.06
Regression 5 334.56 66.91 12.86 0.007
10 Residual 5 26.02 5.20
5
Lack of fit (model
3 20.24 6.75 2.33 0.314
error)
0 Pure error (replicate
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 5.79 2.89
error)
Days
DF: degrees of freedom; SS: sum of squares; MS: mean squares; F: Fischer’s
Experiment n° variance ratio; P: probability value. A goodness of fit test was performed by
1 5 9 comparing the MS (mean square) lack of fit to the MS (mean square) pure error.
2 6 10
3 7 11
4 8 Table 5: Estimated regression coefficients.
Figure 1: Effect of time on CA production. P 95% confidence
Factor Coefficients SD
value interval
material base (Table 3). Analysis of experimental data Constant 12.33 1.30 0.0002 3.33
allowed CA concentration to be expressed in terms of pH as pH − 5.73 0.79 0.0008 2.04
Inoculum
CA concentration 􏼐g·kg− 1 􏼑 � 12.3 ± 3.3 − 5.7 − 0.07 0.79 0.9330 2.04
loading (In)
pH∗ pH 3.00 0.95 0.0249 2.43
± 2.0 pH + 3.0 ± 2.4 pH2 . In∗ In − 0.65 0.95 0.5196 2.43
(1) pH∗ In − 1.20 1.12 0.3343 2.89

This second-degree polynomial, which was validated by

an ANOVA test to 95% confidence (p < 0.05; the model was 35
26
found to be statistically significant) (Table 4), demonstrates 8
30 26 24
that CA concentration was only affected by pH (p � 0.0008)

Citric acid (g·kg–1)

22
while inoculum loading did not have a marked effect
Inoculum (mg)

25 24 20
(p � 0.93) (Table 5). According to this equation, CA con- 22 20 18 16 14 12
20 18
centration increased with decreasing pH. Additionally, no
16
interaction was detected between pH and inoculum con- 15
14
centration (p � 0.33). The error values corresponded to a
10 12
confidence level of 95%. The variables in the quadratic 10
10
polynomial were scaled and centered. Based on the exper- 5
8
imental conditions used in the experimental design, the 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
polynomial was used to predict CA production (Table 1), pH
and values predicted by the model were close to the ex-
Figure 2: Surface contour graph for CA production.
perimental values (r2 � 0.92).
The effects of the fermentation conditions at 10% con-
sistency are shown in the surface contour plot of Figure 2 35
while the influence of pH on CA concentration is shown in
Figure 3. Since pH strongly affected the fermentation pro- 30
Citric acid (g·kg–1)

cess, CA production was evaluated at different pH values. As 25

a result, optimal pH was determined as 1.4, in agreement
with the findings of Papagianni [7] and Max et al. [52], who 20
revealed that CA production should be performed at pH ≤ 2.
15
Under these conditions, the production of other organic
acids such as gluconic and oxalic acids is inhibited, which 10
increases the yield of CA and reduces the risk of contam-
ination by other microorganisms. 5
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
For wet-substrate fermentation, the maximal CA level
pH
(20 g·kg− 1 dry material base) was observed on the sixth day
(144 h) (Figure 4). Although the humidity level used can N = 11, R2 = 0.928, RSD = 2.281, DF = 5;
interval = 95% confidence
help to promote exchange and diffusion processes, the
obtained value was lower than those for fermentation at Figure 3: Effect of pH on CA concentration.
6 Journal of Chemistry
25
20
Citric acid (g·kg–1)
15
10
5
0 acid production by recycling its wastewater treated with
2 4 6 8
Days
Figure 4: Production of CA on the wet substrate.
10% consistency. This cannot be attributed to the presence
of minerals because of the absence of free liquid for
dissolution.
As the incubation temperature plays an important role in
the production of CA, in this work, a temperature of 30°C
was employed since it is the optimal temperature reported in
most of the works published on the production of CA by
fermentation with A. niger from different substrates (see
Table 1). Above 35°C, the formation of CA is inhibited due to
the higher production of derived acids and the inhibition of
microbial growth [53].
Similarly, remarkably higher and even lower CA levels
have been reported for other substrates (Table 1), e.g.,
Bezalwar et al. [25] investigated the production of CA
from pineapple pulp, beet root waste, guava pulp, and
papaya, achieving maximal CA concentrations of 5, 3.4,
4.8, and 3.8 g·kg− 1, respectively, after 192 h. Goud et al.
[26] investigated CA production from sugar cane bagasse,
grape residues, and mosambi peels, achieving maximal
levels of 29, 34, and 25 g·kg− 1, respectively, while Kareem
et al. [23] realized a CA level of 60 g·kg− 1 (after 120 h) by
fermentation of pineapple peels in the presence of
methanol.
4. Conclusions
CA was successfully produced from M. paradisiaca peels,
with higher CA levels reached for a solid substrate immersed
into a solution than for a wet substrate, possibly because the
operational parameters such as pH and temperature could
be better controlled in the former case. Thus, M. paradisiaca
peels were concluded to be a promising low-cost fermentable
substrate for obtaining high added-value products such as
CA.
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study are in-
cluded within the article.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest
regarding the publication of this paper.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the National Secretariat of Science,
Technology, and Innovation (SENACYT) as a member of
the Panamá Research National System (SNI) (Grant no. 196-
2017).
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