Optimization for Bioethanol Production from Luffah Sponge (Luffa aegyptica) by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis

Abstract

Energy demand and the problem of fossil fuel depletion are increasing worldwide and these challenges have led search for sources that can be renewable, sustainable, efficient, cost effective, convenient and safe. Sponge gourd is a promising energy crop providing lignocellulosic biomass that is rich in fiber. Bio-ethanol is the most important energy product derived from biomass in terms of volume, market values also environmental friendly. The research was aimed to determine the optimum condition for bioethanol production from luffah sponge by Saccaromyces cereviciae and Zymomonas mobilis. Luffah sponge was pretreated with dilute acid, enzymatically hydrolysed using Aspergillus Niger then fermented to produce ethanol. The fermentation experiment was carried out using response surface (User Defined) method on design expert (version 11.1.0) software package. The response values for bioethanol concentration was best fitted into quadratic model considering the value of predicted R2 and adjusted R2.The optimum bioethanol concentration was 36.15g/L using the optimum conditions of 9g mass of substrate, 72hrs time of fermentation, 33.4C temperature, 3.7 pH, inoculum size of 1 mcfarland (3x10 spores/ml) and ZymomonasMoblis as the fermenting microorganism