Bijdrage tot de kennis der dissimilatie van vetzure zouten en koolhydraten door thermophiele bacterien

Samenvatting

The dissimilation of calcium formate and lacetate, cellulose, amylose and sugars was investigated at temperatures above 55 °C. It was found that calcium formate and acetate were quantitatively fermented to C0 2 and CH 4 by thermophilic bacteria. All experiments were carried out with mixed cultures as it was impossible to obtain a pure culture of these bacteria. The thermophilic fermentation of cellulose, arnylose and sugars yielded calcium formate and acetate, CO 2 , H 2 , and sometimes CH 4 . A correlation between these two processes was, however, missing. Two isolated strains of the genus Bacillus were able to hydrolyze cellulose and arnylose but no fermentation was observed. Another strain of Bacillus fermented arnylose and sugars producing C0 2 , H 2 , and butyric, acetic and lactic acids. The thermophilic fermentation of plant residues leading to C0 2 and CH 4 was shown to proceed much more readily than the mesophilic process.