Bioethanol production by carbohydrate-enriched biomass of Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis

Abstract

In the present study the potential of bioethanol production using carbohydrate-enriched biomass of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis was studied. For the saccharification of the carbohydrate-enriched biomass, four acids (H2SO4, HNO3, HCl and H3PO4) were investigated. Each acid were used at four concentrations, 2.5 N, 1 N, 0.5 N and 0.25 N, and for each acid concentration the saccharification was conducted under four temperatures (40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C and 100 °C). Higher acid concentrations gave in general higher reducing sugars (RS) yields (%, gRS/gTotal sugars) with higher rates, while the increase in temperature lead to higher rates at lower acid concentration. The hydrolysates then were used as substrate for ethanolic fermentation by a salt stress-adapted Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. The bioethanol yield (%, gEtOH/gBiomass) was significantly affected by the acid concentration used for the saccharification of the carbohydrates. The highest bioethanol yields of 16.32% ± 0.90% (gEtOH/gBiomass) and 16.27% ± 0.97% (gEtOH/gBiomass) were obtained in hydrolysates produced with HNO3 0.5 N and H2SO4 0.5 N, respectively. © 2013 by the authors.