• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.747-754
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• 1995

E. coli growth is inhibited by organic acids produced in the broth. In order to reduce the inhibition, an electrodialysis unit was used. Model solutions (acetic acid plus distilled water or M-9 medium) were tested in the unit for investigating the optimum condition of current and voltage. Electrodialysis cultures were performed with the optimum condition where the highest current efficiency could be attained. The distilled water plus acetic acid gave us a higher current efficiency than the M-9 plus acetic acid. Electrodialysis efficiently removed acetic acid and so enhanced the specific growth rate of E. coli compared with the control experiment without clectrodialysis.