Biohydrogen production from hyperthermophilic anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable wastes in seawater: Simplification of the culture medium of Thermotoga maritima

Abstract Biohydrogen production by the hyperthermophilic and halophilic bacterium T. maritima , using fruit and vegetable wastes as the carbon and energy sources was studied. Batch fermentation cultures showed that the use of a culture medium containing natural seawater and fruit and vegetable wastes can replace certain components (CaCl 2 , MgCl 2 , Balch's oligo-elements, yeast extract, KH 2 PO 4 and K 2 HPO 4 ) present in basal medium. However, a source of nitrogen and sulfur remained necessary for biohydrogen production. When fruit and vegetable waste collected from a wholesale market landfill was used, no decreases in total H 2 production (139 mmol L −1 ) or H 2 yield (3.46 mol mol −1 ) was observed.