An Assessment of the Lactic Acid-Producing Potential of Bacterial Strains Isolated from Food Waste

Lactic acid (LA) is widely used in many industries as a crucial starting material in food products, bio-based materials, and biodegradable polymers. The goals of this research were to isolate LA bacteria from food wastes, assess their potential for LA production, and study their growth characteristics. In this study, six bacterial strains were isolated from food waste and identified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing;W. viridescens WJ39 showed the highest potential for lactic acid production (17.56 g L − 1 day − 1 ), and the lowest potential was found in L. lactis YS33 (14.09 g L − 1 day − 1 ). Moreover, dramatic differences in growth rate were observed among the six strains. W. viridescensWJ39 exhibited the highest growth rate (0.80 h − 1 ), while M. caseolyticus FCI29 exhibited the lowest growth rate (0.57 h − 1 ).