NOVEL BUTANOL PRODUCTION PROCESS

摘要

Disclosed is a butanol production process comprising a step of allowing a microorganism belonging to the genus Clostridium, which is a microorganism capable of producing butanol, to produce butanol in an environment (a medium) containing a sugar that can be utilized by a Clostridium microorganism and lactic acid and/or acetic acid as substrates. The process enables the increase in the concentration of butanol produced in a culture medium (solution) and also enables the increase in the butanol production rate. In the process, a mixture of a D-form and an L-form which is produced through lactic acid fermentation or an acetic-acid-containing fermentation product which is a by-product of lactic acid fermentation can be utilized. By combining the process with lactic acid fermentation, it becomes possible to construct a system for producing butanol from a non-food biomass, which does not need any expensive enzyme or any high-level technique such as genetic engineering and is therefore practically useful.