Utilization of Vegetable and Fruit Waste as Raw Material of Bioethanol

Abstract

Most of the fruit and vegetable production ends up as agricultural waste. The waste is generated not only from fruits and vegetable residues that cannot be consumed directly, such as seeds, peels, and stems, but also from the result of inefficient post-harvest processing, in addition to the perishable nature of fruits and vegetables. Those wastes undoubtedly become a problem to the environment because it contributes to gas emissions production. Meanwhile, those wastes contain lignocellulose, starch, or sugar, which can be processed into bioethanol. As is known, bioethanol is an alternative in dealing with the problem of dwindling fossil energy. So, this chapter will overview various fruits and vegetable waste potential as raw materials for bioethanol production and the processing steps such as hydrolysis, fermentation, distillation, and dehydration. Besides, it will suggest future research about bioethanol production from fruits and vegetable wastes.