Dark fermentation of pretreated hydrolysates of pineapple fruit waste for the production of biohydrogen using bacteria isolated from wastewater sources.

In the present study, both acidic and alkaline hydrolysate of pineapple waste was utilized for the production of biohydrogen using locally isolated bacterial strains. The bacteria were isolated from different wastewater sources and were identified as Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus altitudinus, Bacillus subtilis, Paenibacillus alvei and Lysinibacillus sphaericus . Experimental results showed that the highest biohydrogen yield of 836.33±48.02mL H 2 was produced from alkaline hydrolysate with Bacillus altitudinis during the 96 th hr of fermentation. Among the different bacterial strains, B. altitudinis showed higher H 2 production. Comparatively alkaline hydrolysates exhibited higher yield of hydrogen than acidic hydrolysates. The final pH of the experiment was found to be in acidic range. The total VFA concentration ranged between 930±207.85 mg/L to 3050±476.97mg/L. Both sugar degradation and COD reduction was more than 80% in the acidic and alkaline hydrolysates while the lowest sugar degradation and COD reduction was observed for the untreated biomass. The rationale behind this study was to convert the waste biomass into energy by utilizing the potential of native bacterial communities.