Malic acid production from thin stillage by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus</Emphasis> species

The ability of Aspergillus strains to utilize thin stillage to produce malic acid was compared. The highest malic acid was produced by Aspergillus niger ATCC 9142 at 17 g l⁻¹. Biomass production from thin stillage was similar with all strains but ATCC 10577 was the highest at 19 g l⁻¹. The highest malic acid yield (0.8 g g⁻¹) was with A. niger ATCC 9142 and ATCC 10577 on the stillage. Thus, thin stillage has the potential to act as a substrate for the commercial production of food-grade malic acid by the A. niger strains.