Modeling of microbial biomass production by Lactobacillus fermentum 4-17 isolated from Tarkhineh in dairy sludge optimized by response surface methodology (RSM)

Dairy sludge is one of the main and inexpensive wastes of the dairy industry, which contains the nutrients necessary for the growth of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to produce microbial metabolites, and for its efficient use, optimization of fermentation conditions is critical. In order to optimize the production of dry biomass, three independent variables of dairy sludge concentration (5, 12.5 and 20%), pH (6, 7 and 8) and the inoculation rate of Lactobacillus fermentum strain 4-17 (1, 3 and 5%) were used. Before fermentation, the cell growth and morphology of this bacterium were examined in order to determine the function of the growth rate and confirm the presence of bacteria in this medium. The independent variables were optimized using response surface method (RSM) with central composite design (CCD) in order to maximize dry biomass production by this bacterium. The optimization results showed that the maximum amount of dry biomass production related to the optimal treatment included 20% dairy sludge concentration, 1% inoculation rate and pH 8. Also, according to the results, the dairy sludge substrate is suitable for the fermentation of this bacterium. As a result, the effect of dairy sludge bed concentration and pH on dry biomass production by this bacteria was very significant.