Bio-ethanol production through simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of a low-moisture anhydrous ammonia (LMAA)-pretreated napiegrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach)

Masahide Yasuda; Hayato Nagai; Keisuke Takeo; Yasuyuki Ishii; Kazuyoshi Ohta

doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-333

Bio-ethanol production through simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of a low-moisture anhydrous ammonia (LMAA)-pretreated napiegrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach)

Springerplus. 2014 Jul 1:3:333. doi: 10.1186/2193-1801-3-333. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Masahide Yasuda¹, Hayato Nagai¹, Keisuke Takeo¹, Yasuyuki Ishii², Kazuyoshi Ohta³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, University of Miyazaki, Gakuen-Kibanadai Nishi, Miyazaki, 889-2192 Japan.
² Department of Animal and Grassland Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Gakuen-Kibanadai Nishi, Miyazaki, 889-2192 Japan.
³ Department of Biochemistry and Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1 Gakuen-Kibanadai Nishi, Miyazaki, 889-2192 Japan.

Abstract

Efficient bio-ethanol production from napiegrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) was investigated. A low-moisture anhydrous ammonia (LMAA)-pretreated napiegrass was subjected to simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF), which was performed at 36°C using Escherichia coli KO11, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, cellulase, and xylanase. It was found that use of xylanase as well as the LMAA-pretreatment was effective for the SSCF. After the SSCF for 96 h, the ethanol yield reached 74% of the theoretical yield based on the glucan (397 mg g(-1)) and xylan (214 mg g(-1)) occurring in dry powdered LMAA-pretreated napiergrass.

Keywords: Bio-ethanol; Cellulase; Escherichia coli KO11; LMAA-pretreatment; Napiergrass; Simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF); Xylanase.