The Improvement of Bioethanol Production by Pentose-Fermenting Yeasts Isolated from Herbal Preparations, the Gut of Dung Beetles, and Marula Wine

• Main Authors: Mahlatse Ellias Moremi, Elbert Lukas Jansen Van Rensburg, Daniël Coenrad La Grange
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2020-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Microbiology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/5670936

Efficient conversion of pentose sugars to ethanol is important for an economically viable lignocellulosic bioethanol process. Ten yeasts fermenting both D-xylose and L-arabinose were subjected to an adaptation process with L-arabinose as carbon source in a medium containing acetic acid. Four Meyerozyma caribbica-adapted strains were able to ferment L-arabinose to ethanol in the presence of 3 g/L acetic acid at 35°C. Meyerozyma caribbica Mu 2.2f fermented L-arabinose to produce 3.0 g/L ethanol compared to the parental strain with 1.0 g/L ethanol in the absence of acetic acid. The adapted M. caribbica Mu 2.2f strain produced 3.6 and 0.8 g/L ethanol on L-arabinose and D-xylose, respectively, in the presence of acetic acid while the parental strain failed to grow. In a bioreactor, the adapted M. caribbica Mu 2.2f strain produced 5.7 g/L ethanol in the presence of 3 g/L acetic acid with an ethanol yield and productivity of 0.338 g/g and 0.158 g/L/h, respectively, at a KLa value of 3.3 h−1. The adapted strain produced 26.7 g/L L-arabitol with a yield of 0.900 g/g at a KLa value of 4.9 h−1.