Figure 1. LA fermentation with NaOH-pretreated and washed corncob.

(A) Concentration of sugars (glucose and xylose), LA, and inhibitors (acetic acid, total phenolics, and formic acid) during fermentation of 8% (w/w) NaOH-pretreated and washed corncob at pH6.0 (adjusted by automatic NaOH solution feeding). (B) Fermentation of 8% (w/w) NaOH-pretreated and washed corncob using CaCO₃ as a neutralizer. (C) Fermentation of NaOH-pretreated and washed corncob (8% [w/w] initial substrate fed to 16% from 18 h to 24 h) using CaCO₃ as aneutralizer. Blue diamond, LA; red square, acetic acid; green circle, total phenolics; brown triangle, glucose; cyan triangle, xylose; orange triangle, formic acid. Experiments were carried out in duplicate and error bars are shown. Where error bars are not visible, they are smaller than the size of the symbol used.