Banana is a major cash crop of many regions generating good amount of waste after harvest. This agro waste which is left for natural degradation is used as substrate for single step ethanol fermentation by thermophilic, cellulolytic, ethanologenic Clostridium thermocellum CT2, a new culture isolated from elephant droppings. Scanning electron microscopic pictures clearly indicate cellulolysis and close interaction of selected isolate CT2 with cellulose. The optimum conditions for cellulose fermentation were 60°C, pH 7.5, inoculums size 5% and incubation time 5 days. Ethanol produced and reducing sugars were estimated by gas chromatography. Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum HG8 and Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus ATCC 31937 were used in coculture fermentation with CT2. Coculture fermentation of CT2 with HG8 was more efficient in terms of ethanol production, cellulose degradation and reducing sugars utilization. A maximum ethanol yield of 0.41g/g substrate used was obtained on coculturing CT2 with HG8 on alkali treated banana waste. Coculture was active even at substrate concentrations up to 100 g/l, a maximum ethanol of 22 g/l was obtained at 100 g/l substrate concentration on coculturing CT2 with HG8. This is the first report on anaerobic single step conversion of banana waste to ethanol by C. thermocellum.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.