Comparative study on ethanol production from pretreated sugarcane bagasse using immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae on various matrices

Microwave alkali pretreated sugarcane bagasse was used as a substrate for production of cellulolytic enzymes, needed for biomass hydrolysis. The pretreated sugarcane bagasse was enzymatic hydrolyzed by crude unprocessed enzymes cellulase (Filter paper activity 9.4 FPU/g), endoglucanase (carboxymethylcellulase, 148 IU/g), β-glucosidase (116 IU/g) and xylanase (201 IU/g) produced by Aspergillus flavus using pretreated sugarcane bagasse as substrate under solid state fermentation. Concentrated enzymatic hydrolyzate was used for ethanol production using Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilized on various matrices. The yield of ethanol was 0.44 gp/gs in case of yeast immobilized sugarcane bagasse, 0.38 gp/gs using Ca-alginate and 0.33 gp/gs using agar-agar as immobilization matrices. The immobilized yeast studied up to 10 cycles in case of immobilized sugarcane bagasse and up to 4 cycles in case of agar-agar and calcium alginate for ethanol production under repeated batch fermentation study.

► Ethanol production from microwave alkali pretreated sugarcane bagasse.
► On- site hydrolytic enzymes produced using pretreated sugarcane bagasse by Aspergillus flavus.
► Enzymatic hydrolysis by crude unprocessed hydrolytic enzymes.
► Comparison of three immobilization matrices for yeast for ethanol production.