scholarly journals Effective fermentation of sugarcane bagasse whole slurries using robust xylose-capable Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Author(s):  
Thapelo Mokomele ◽  
Bianca Brandt ◽  
Johann Görgens

The pre-treatment of lignocellulose material toward cellulosic bioethanol production releases microbial inhibitors that severely limit the fermentation ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This study evaluated to what degree robust xylose capable strains may improve the fermentability of non-detoxified sugarcane bagasse (SCB) slurries derived from steam explosion (StEX), and further compared this to slurries derived from ammonia fibre expansion (AFEX) pre-treatment. Initial screening in separate hydrolyses and co-fermentation processes using StEx-SCB hydrolysates identified S. cerevisiae TP-1 and CelluXTM4 with higher xylose consumption (≥ 88%) and ethanol concentrations (≥ 50 g/L). Subsequent fermentations compared StEx and AFEX pre-treated SCB material under industrially relevant fed-batch pre-hydrolysis simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (PSSCF) conditions, which resulted in only 3 g/L differences in ethanol titres for StEx and AFEX PSSCF fermentations. The study achieved non-detoxified whole-slurry co-fermentation using StEx pre-treated SCB, with higher ethanol yields than previously reported, by utilising robust xylose-capable strains.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-76
Author(s):  
Madhanamohanan G. Mithra ◽  
Gouri Padmaja

Background: Literature on ethanol production from Lignocellulo-Starch Biomass (LCSB) containing starch besides cellulose and hemicellulose, is scanty. Fed-Batch Separate Hydrolysis And Fermentation (F-SHF) was earlier found more beneficial than Fed-Batch Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (F-SSF). Objective: The study aimed at modification of the saccharification and fermentation strategies by including a prehydrolysis step prior to the SSF and compared the ethanol yields with co-culture fermentation using hexose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae and pentose-fermenting Scheffersomyces stipitis. Methods: Fed-batch hybrid-SSF and Fed-Batch Separate Hydrolysis and Co-culture Fermentation (F-SHCF) in improving ethanol yield from Steam (ST) or Dilute Sulfuric Acid (DSA) pretreated LCSBs (peels of root and vegetable crops) were studied. Results: There was a progressive build-up of ethanol during F-HSSF up to 72h and further production up to 120h was negligible, with no difference among pretreatments. Despite very high ethanol production in the initial 24h of fermentation by S.cerevisiae under F-SHCF, the further increase was negligible. A rapid hike in ethanol production was observed when S. stipitis was also supplemented because of xylose conversion to ethanol. Conclusion: While ST gave higher ethanol (296-323 ml/kg) than DSA under F-HSSF, the latter was advantageous under F-SHCF for certain residues. Prehydrolysis (24h; 50°C) enhanced initial sugar levels favouring fast fermentation and subsequent saccharification and fermentation occurred concurrently at 37°C for 120h, thus leading to energy saving and hence F-HSSF was advantageous. Owing to the low hemicellulose content in LCSBs, the relative advantage of co-culture fermentation over monoculture fermentation was not significant.


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