(32a) Biological Conversion of Methanol to Organic Acids Using A. niger Strain

Aspergillus niger, a filamentous fungus has been employed to produce commercial enzymes, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals and organic acids. Biological production of organic acids is a promising approach for obtaining building-block chemicals from renewable waste carbon sources. Oxalic acid is a starting material compound used in various fields in the pharmaceutical, pulp, chemical, metal and food industries. Oxalic acid has been produced by chemical synthesis; however, an environment-friendly biological production is required for avoiding the use of toxic reagents. Methanol-resistant A. niger was used for the improved production of oxalic acid. In our previous study, we found that the methanol-resistance/conversion strain cultivated in a semi-solid medium containing 5 ~ 15% methanol and corncob improve the productivity of oxalic acid up to 123 g/kg. In this study, we developed A. niger strain to produce organic acids using methanol as a carbon source. This study demonstrates that poor grade methanol mixed with waste biomass is a substrate for the biological production of value-added chemicals.