Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass with ionic liquids (ILs) has been extensively studied, being regarded as one of the most promising methods for obtaining fermentable sugars. In this research, it was investigated the production of ethanol from sugars released from sugarcane bagasse pretreated with the ionic liquids [C4mim][OAc] and [C2mim][OAc], hydrolysed with Penicillium echinulatum enzymes and using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Yields of about 43 and 56% of ethanol were observed for S. cerevisiae and biomass pretreated with [C2mim][OAc] and [C4mim][OAc], respectively. S. pombe yielded 52 and 78% ethanol for [C2mim][OAc] and [C4mim][OAc], respectively. These results indicate that S. pombe showed best performance for alcoholic fermentation from sugars released from pretreated biomass by ILs.
Keywords: Cellulase; Fermentation; Ionic liquid; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Schizosaccharomyces pombe.