Impact and significance of alkaline-oxidant pretreatment on the enzymatic digestibility of Sphenoclea zeylanica for bioethanol production

- Characterization of Gooseweed for bioethanol production were studied.
- A renewable co treatments alkaline - oxidant was applied on this new material.
- Improve sugar yield by optimization of pretreatment and hydrolysis processes.
- The maximum ethanol concentration achieved within 5 days was 11.84 g/L.

Gooseweed (Sphenoclea zeylanica Gaertn.) is a pest on the rice field that has a potential to be a promising substrate for bioethanol production. Dry powdered gooseweed was firstly pretreated with 1% NaOH, following 1% H2O2 at variety conditions. The hydrolysis process was set at 50 °C for 24-72 h with enzyme cellulase (β-glucosidase) while the fermentation process was carried using Saccharomyces cerevisiae TISTR 5020 at 33 °C for nine days. The ethanol concentration was recorded for three, five, seven, and nine days using an ebulliometer. The results showed that the treatment with only 1% NaOH for 24 h has the highest sugar performance. In regard with hydrolysis, the optimum retention time was at 24 h. Lastly, the highest ethanol concentration was achieved at 11.84 g/L after five days and a rapid decreasing after seven to nine days was also observed.

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