The use of microbial consortia and industrial effluents for the production of biohydrogen by dark fermentation is seen as a key strategy in an attempt to overcome the economic and technical drawbacks of this potential technology. Three mesophilic microbial consortia were sampled and identified. Fermentation was carried out in a vinasse-based medium supplemented with pure or complex carbon sources under different conditions of H-2 partial pressure. Consortia LPBAH1 and LPBAH2 were predominantly composed of Oxalobacteraceae and Lactobacillaceae, while LPBAH3 was rich in sporulating Lactobacillaceae (>96%). Each consortium presented specificities related to biohydrogen and VFAs production: (i) the highest biohydrogen yield was achieved with LPBAH1 (> 50% Oxalobacteraceae) in a vinasse medium supplemented with sugarcane juice (1.59 +/- 0.21 mol(H2)/mol(glucose)); (ii) The lower H-2 yields were achieved with LPBAH3, which otherwise produced the highest amount of butyric acid (up to 10 g L-1); (iii) LPBAH2 presented great stability in H-2 production in different conditions of H-2 partial pressure.