Biohydrogen production from acidic and alkaline hydrolysates of paddy straw using locally isolated facultative bacteria through dark fermentation

The hydrogen production from hydrolysates of acid and alkali pretreated paddy straw using locally isolated facultative bacteria, Proteus mirabilis , was investigated. Acidic and alkaline pretreatments have increased the total sugar content in the hydrolysates, thus enhanced hydrogen production. Acidic hydrolysate produced higher yield of hydrogen than alkaline with a maximum cumulative hydrogen volume of 833.43 ± 21.72 mL H 2 , which was 3.33-fold higher than that of untreated substrate. The initial pH 6 was observed to be the optimum with 1.03 mol H 2 mol −1 glucose for the acidic hydrolysate. Similarly, the temperature 34 °C was found to be the most favourable with 1.00 mol H 2 mol −1 glucose for the acidic hydrolysate among the different experimental conditions studied. The present study confirms the clean energy production from waste biomass through dark fermentation by native bacteria and has potential scope for further studies.