Study on the Activity of Chitosan on Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Sodium Alginate Beads for Bioethanol Production from Mahula Flower

Abstract

In recent years, growing attention has been devoted to the conversion of biomass into ethanol, considered as the cleanest liquid fuel alternative to fossil fuels. Yeast cells under anaerobic conditions can be used to ferment glucose into ethanol. Many agro-industrial residues are excellent substrates for ethanol fermentation. The starter culture has a very important role to play as an intermediate to provide a desired inoculums size of viable cells for the actual fermentation medium. The yield of ethanol from 2, 2.5 and 3% sodium alginate concentrations were found to be 333.33, 200 and 183.33 mL kg⁻¹, respectively. Also, the yield of ethanol with and without chitosan was 350 and 333.33 mL kg⁻¹, respectively in the first immobilization cycle. The aim of the present study was to investigate the immobilization of Sacharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells for bioethanol production from mahula flowers. For this purpose, the biocompatible polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and Ca-alginate were assessed. Immobilization of microbial cells in the fermentation has been developed to eliminate inhibition caused by high concentration of substrate and product as also to enhance the productivity and yield of ethanol production.

Keywords: Mahula flower, immobilization, sodium alginate, chitosan, bioethanol.