Abstract:
The aim was to determine the growth potential of Bacillus cereus using glucose and xylose as the substrates. In this study a bacterial isolate was identified by 16s rRNA gene sequencing. Bacillus. cereus can metabolise glucose and xylose as the sole carbon sources during anaerobic fermentation. The biomass growth profile showed a lag of about 8 h, followed by an increase in the biomass. The growth profile was better on glucose than xylose. The maximum biomass concentration achieved was 3.64 g/L and 2.62 g/L using glucose and xylose, respectively. The higher the initial substrate concentration the higher the growth of the bacteria. The growth of B. cereus was accompanied by a decrease in the ORP. Its ability to metabolise xylose proves that it has the potential to convert biomass-derived feed for possible applications as a bio-fertilizer.
