Microbial development in distillers wet grains produced during fuel ethanol production from corn (Zea mays)

Distillers grains are coproduced with ethanol and carbon dioxide during the production of fuel ethanol from the dry milling and fermentation of corn grain, yet there is little basic microbiological information on these materials. We undertook a replicated field study of the microbiology of distillers wet grains (DWG) over a 9 day period following their production at an industrial fuel ethanol plant. Freshly produced DWG had a pH of about 4.4, a moisture content of about 53.5% (wet mass basis), and 4 × 105 total yeast cells/g dry mass, of which about 0.1% were viable. Total bacterial cells were initially below detection limits (ca. 106 cells/g dry mass) and then were estimated to be ∼5 × 107 cells/g dry mass during the first 4 days following production. Culturable aerobic heterotrophic organisms (fungi plus bacteria) ranged between 104 and 105 CFU/g dry mass during the initial 4 day period, and lactic acid bacteria increased from 36 to 103 CFU/g dry mass over this same period. At 9 days, total viable bacteria and yeasts and (or) molds topped 108 CFU/g dry mass and lactic acid bacteria approached 106 CFU/g dry mass. Community phospholipid fatty acid analysis indicated a stable microbial community over the first 4 days of storage. Thirteen morphologically distinct isolates were recovered, of which 10 were yeasts and molds from 6 different genera, 2 were strains of the lactic-acid-producing Pediococcus pentosaceus and only one was an aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, Micrococcus luteus . The microbiology of DWG is fundamental to the assessment of spoilage, deleterious effects (e.g., toxins), or beneficial effects (e.g., probiotics) in its use as feed or in alternative applications.