Production of fuel ethanol from wheat straw

Authors: Saha, Badal; Cotta, Michael

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2007
Publication Date: 12/1/2007
Citation: Saha, B.C., Cotta, M.A. 2007. Production of fuel ethanol from wheat straw [abstract]. Environment, Industrial, and Applied Microbiology. Paper No. 434.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Wheat straw contains about 70% carbohydrates that can serve as a low cost feedstock for production of fuel ethanol. The pretreatment of wheat straw is essential prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. Research needs to be carried out to develop an efficient pretreatment method which can greatly help enzymes breakdown the complex carbohydrates to simple sugars without generating compounds inhibitory to fermentative microorganisms. Further, utilization of all sugars present in wheat straw hydrolyzate is necessary for cost-effective production of ethanol. We have evaluated fuel ethanol production from wheat straw using dilute acid, lime, and alkaline peroxide as pretreatment options. This was followed by enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of the generated sugars (glucose, xylose, arabinose, and galactose) to ethanol by an ethanologenic recombinant Escherichia coli using both separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) approaches. Overall, the results demonstrate that fuel ethanol can be efficiently produced from wheat straw as a lignocellulosic feedstock.