Maize anaerobic fermentation

Anaerobic fermentation of maize carbohydrate can also be modified to produce high yields of the 3-carbon molecule lactic acid [362]. Esterification with ethanol produces ethyl lactate which has good solvent properties and can be used as a chemical intermediate. Conversion of lactate to the lactide dimer produces the intermediate for polylactate resin manufacture. 

We have been studying the anaerobic response in cotton, a crop which experiences a reduction in growth rate during irrigation or waterlogging. Cotton shows a level of anaerobically inducible ADH activity comparable with that of maize, a plant which is relatively resistant to anoxia (A. Millar, unpublished data T.L. Setter, unpublished data). However, in cotton the level of the enzyme catalysing the preceding step in the fermentation pathway, PDC, is relatively low and this may lead to low rates of ethanol synthesis and hence low tolerance to anoxia. 

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