Abstract
Biological pretreatment is a cost-effective method of delignifying lignocellulosic biomass, making it less recalcitrant to hydrolysis into fermentable sugars. In this study, selected agricultural wastes were pretreated with mushrooms (Lentinus squarrosulus and Pleurotus ostreatus) to delignify them for bioethanol production. The substrates were supplemented with 0.2 % CaCO3, inoculated with 12 % (w/w) L. squarrosulus and Pleurotus ostreatus spawns and incubated at 25 oC for 21 days. The highest lignin removal and highest bioethanol yield of 77.45 % and 13.98 % were obtained from bean husks pretreated with L. squarrosulus. Similarly, 64.29 % and 60.92 % lignin were removed from the Pleurotus ostreatus-pretreated banana leaves and sawdust, respectively, while 12.08 % and 13.05 % bio-ethanol yields were recorded, respectively. These findings demonstrate that affordable and straightforward mushroom delignification of abundant and cheap biomass can improve hydrolysis outcomes, thus easing bioethanol production.
Highlights
The global energy demand is increasing due to the rapid development of new technologies, industries and transport (Hawrot-Paw et al, 2020)
Effect of biological pretreatment on biomass lignin content Three under-utilised lignocellulosic biomass in Nigeria were investigated for their potential use in bioethanol production
The substrates were subjected to particle size reduction, biologically pretreated using Lentinus squarrosulus and Pleurotus ostreatus to disrupt the biomass’ structure
Summary
The global energy demand is increasing due to the rapid development of new technologies, industries and transport (Hawrot-Paw et al, 2020). Fossil fuels that belong to non-renewable sources of energy are currently being used to meet these needs. It is estimated that fossil fuel supplies will be exhausted by the middle of this century (Shokrkar et al, 2017), which will necessitate the need for an alternative source of fuel (Wood and Roelich, 2019). One such potential alternative is bioethanol (Chamnipa et al, 2017), offering several advantages, including its renewable nature and low carbon emissions (Qureshi et al, 2015). It is anticipated that the generation of clean energy in Africa will come from renewable energy, with biofuels playing a pivotal role (Adewuyi, 2020)
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