A note on the bioconversion of pretreated wheat straw and sunflower stalks to ethanol by Pachysolen tannophilus

Abstract

Studies were carried out to investigate the sugar content (glucose and xylose) of the enzymatic hydrolysate of pretreated wheat straw and sunflower stalks. It was found that pretreatment with peracetic acid enhanced the enzymatic hydrolysis and the yields of sugars (glucose and xylose) were higher than those from untreated wheat straw and sunflower stalks. Subsequent experiments involved the fermentation of the sugar liquor to ethanol using Pachysolen tannophilus NRRL 2460 under aerobic conditions. The ethanol yield was 1·4%, obtained from 8% sugar concentration.