Valorizing meat processing industry brines to produce added-value organic acids.

During the production of certain meat processed products, such as cured ham and cold meat, large amounts of wastewater with high organic matter and salt content are generated. In contrast with the conventional management processes, which involves high energy consumption, this study proposes the valorisation of such meat brines through anaerobic fermentation to produce added-value organic acids. Several brines coming from different meat processing processes were tested to evaluate their acidification potential as well as to establish the main operation parameters in the fermenter: pH and the substrate-to-inoculum ratio.