Continuous lactic acid fermentations were conducted using lignocellulosic hydrolyzates and corn steep liquor as inexpensive raw materials. Lactic acid concentrations decreased with increases in the dilution rate, whereas the residual substrate concentrations increased. However, lactic acid yields were maintained at more than 0.90 g g(-1) over all cases experimented. The cell-recycle cultivation system exerted positive effects on fermentation efficiency, including volumetric productivity, which is attributable to the retention of cells in the bioreactor. The cell-recycle continuous fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolyzates yielded a lactic acid productivity of 6.7g l(-1) h(-1) for a dilution rate of 0.16 h(-1) using 30 g l(-1) of corn steep liquor and 1.5 g l(-1) of yeast extract as nutrients. The productivity (6.7 g l(-1) h(-1)) acquired by the cell-recycle continuous fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolyzates was 1.6 times higher than the lactic acid productivity yielded in the continuous fermentation without cell-recycle system. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.