Prospect of nipa sap for bioethanol production

Abstract

The current study was initiated to study the chemical composition of nipa sap and its prospect for bioethanol production. Chemical characterization of its sap yielded in sugars content of 14.5 wt%. In addition, the elemental analysis of nipa sap gave 0.5 wt% in ash content with Na, K and Cl being its main inorganic constituents. Batch fermentative assays were made using Saccharomyces cerevisiae to evaluate the fermentability of nipa sap in comparison to sugarcane sap. Almost 85% of total sugars in nipa sap were converted to ethanol within 20-28 h with nutrient supplementation. The fermentation trend of nipa sap was similar to sugarcane sap with a yield of 0.42 and 0.46 g ethanol/g sugars, respectively. Furthermore, nipa sap could be easily fermented without nutrient supplement which makes it an interesting feedstock for bioethanol production. © Springer 2011.