OPTIMIZATION OF VEGETABLE WASTES FOR LACTIC ACID PRODUCTION: A LABORATORY SCALE APPROACH

Abstract

Vegetables wastes are organic materials which are not utilized as vegetables and are discarded at all stages of production, processing and marketing. These wastes form a major part of municipal solid wastes and are cause of foul smell and growth of microorganisms due to their high organic contents. The vegetable wastes can be utilized in many different ways to produces different products. We have shown that they can be utilized for production of lactic acid using anaerobic digestion. The 2nd day was the optimum day for recovery of lactic acid while 1:1 ratio of slurry and water was found to the best ratio for production of lactic acid from vegetable wastes. Effect of salts on lactic acid was also studied and it was found that the production decreased in all the concentrations of salts.