Ethanol from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch via Dilute-Acid Hydrolysis and Fermentation by Mucor indicus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) was hydrolyzed in a one-stage hydrolysis using dilute-sulfuric acid(0.2, 0.8%) at 170-230℃ with a holding time of 5 and 15 min. The maximum yield of xylose was 135.94g kg-1 OPEFB, obtained at 0.8% acid, 190℃ and 5 min. The maximum yield of glucose was 62.70g kg-1, obtained at 0.8% acid, 210℃ and 5 min. Bawsed on these results, two-stage hydrolysis was performed to produce hydrolyzates for the fermentation process. Hydrolyzate from the first stage was fermented by Mucor indicus while the hydrolyzate from the second stage was fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The corresponding ethanol yields were 0.45 and 0.46g ethanol g-1 suger consumed.