Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
10394997 | Bioresource Technology | 2011 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) biomass was evaluated for biochemical conversion into ethanol using dilute-acid and ammonia pretreatments. The two alfalfa lines compared were a reduced S-lignin transgenic cultivar generated through down regulation of the caffeic acid O-methyltransferase gene and a wild-type control. Both were harvested at two maturities. All the samples had similar carbohydrate contents including a mean composition of 316Â g glucan and 497Â g total neutral carbohydrates per kg dry biomass, which corresponds to a theoretic ethanol yield of 382Â l/ton. Ethanol yields for alfalfa stems pretreated with dilute-acid were significantly impacted by harvest maturity and lignin composition, whereas when pretreated with dilute-ammonia, yield was solely affected by lignin composition. Use of a recombinant xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces strain, for converting the ammonia pretreated alfalfa samples, further increased ethanol yields. Ethanol yields for the xylose-fermenting yeast were 232-278Â l/ton and were significantly enhanced for the reduced S lignin cultivars.
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Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Process Chemistry and Technology
Authors
Bruce S. Dien, David J. Miller, Ronald E. Hector, Richard A. Dixon, Fang Chen, Mark McCaslin, Peter Reisen, Gautam Sarath, Michael A. Cotta,