TITLE:
Bioethanol Production from Chlorella vulgaris Biomass Cultivated with Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) Peels Extract
AUTHORS:
Obioma Kenechukwu Agwa, Ifeyinwa Geraldine Nwosu, Gideon Orkwagh Abu
KEYWORDS:
Bioethanol, Chlorella vulgaris, Fermentation, Hydrolysis, Plantain Peel
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.8 No.12,
December
12,
2017
ABSTRACT: The
feasibility of nutrient uptake by Chlorella vulgaris using
a cheap carbon source such as plantain peel extract was studied and its biomass utilized for bioethanol production.
Unripe plantain peels were obtained, processed, infused for 48 hrs, extracted and
cultivated with the Chlorella species for a period of fourteen days. The microalgal carbohydrate content was
hydrolyzed with acid and enzyme while the hydrolysate fermented with 10%
concentration of Saccharomyces sp. and Aspergillus sp. at 30°C and pH 4.5
using Separate Hydrolysis and Fermentation (SHF) and Separate Hydrolysis and
Co-culture Fermentation (SHCF) methods. Results show that maximum cell growth
of 1.56 (OD)
and biomass concentration of 19 g/l were obtained with 48 hrs
infusion. The result indicated that C. vulgaris utilized PPE medium as a sole carbon substrate and stimulated the secretion of
biomass. The highest reducing sugar of 0.63 mg/ml was obtained after
hydrolysis of the biomass, while the ethanol production yield of 0.33 g/l was obtained after
fermentation. The ethanol production yield increased with the increase in fermentation
time, while the reducing sugar was reduced after five days of fermentation. The
highest ethanol percentage of 10.82% v/v was obtained from the
distillate. This study showed that plantain peel can be utilized by C. vulgaris which provides a feasible
route of reducing production cost of bioethanol from a cheap carbon substrate
for biomass and bioenergy production.