Production of bioethanol from varieties of dates of poor quality

Abstract

Algeria is one of the important date-producing countries with a yearly production of about 850,000 tons. The number of date palms is more than 18 million palm trees with more than one thousand varieties, however only 30% of this product is of good quality, and the rest is consumed locally or directly fed to the cattle. This study aims at transforming low quality types of dates using technical biotechnology (fermentation) into bioethanol. Our research shows that the average rate of ethanol production is 350 ml per kilogram of dates, thereby achieving a profit margin up to 2.9 Euro per kilogram, not to mention the byproducts of fermentation: The nuclei of dates, fibers etc. The application of this study allows the exploitation and marketing of poor quality date and a thus taking large profit that helps promote date palm trees cultivation and the production of all its types.