Fresh oil palm frond juice as a renewable, non-food, non-cellulosic and complete medium for direct bioethanol production

• Oil palm frond juice is a complete non-food medium for bioethanol production.
• High bioethanol yield was obtained without nutrient supplementation and pH correction.
• Oil palm frond juice is a new renewable feedstock for bioethanol production.

Oil palm frond (OPF) is the largest biomass source in the palm oil industry. Fresh OPF juice can be readily obtained by just pressing the fresh OPF, similar to sugarcane juice. OPF juice contains sugars and other nutrients such as nitrogen, magnesium, calcium, zinc, phosphorus and sulphur, making it a potential medium for bioethanol fermentation. In this study, the potential of fresh OPF juice as a complete non-food medium for direct bioethanol production was evaluated. A promising yield of 0.38 g bioethanol per g sugars consumed was obtained after 24 h of fermentation of fresh OPF juice without nutrient supplementation and without pH correction, which is comparable to synthetic medium at 0.40 g/g. This value is also comparable to the 0.4 g/g yield obtained from sugarcane juice in the Brazilian bioethanol industry. Therefore, this study provides an opportunity for the use of fresh OPF juice as a new renewable, non-food and non-cellulosic feedstock for the bioethanol industry.

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