Sustainable Second-Generation Bioethanol Production from Enzymatically Hydrolyzed Domestic Food Waste Using Pichia anomala as Biocatalyst

In the current study, a domestic food waste containing more than 50% of carbohydrates was assessed as feedstock to produce second-generation bioethanol. Aiming to the maximum exploitation of the carbohydrate fraction of the waste, its hydrolysis via cellulolytic and amylolytic enzymatic blends was investigated and the saccharification efficiency was assessed in each case. Fermentation experiments were performed using the non-conventional yeast Pichia anomala (Wickerhamomyces anomalus) under both separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) modes to evaluate the conversion efficiencies and ethanol yields for different enzymatic loadings. It was shown that the fermentation efficiency of the yeast was not affected by the fermentation mode and was high for all handlings, reaching 83%, whereas the enzymatic blend containing the highest amount of both cellulolytic and amylolytic enzymes led to almost complete liquefaction of the waste, resulting also in ethanol yields reaching 141.06 +/- 6.81 g ethanol/kg waste (0.40 +/- 0.03 g ethanol/g consumed carbohydrates). In the sequel, a scale-up fermentation experiment was performed with the highest loading of enzymes in SHF mode, from which the maximum specific growth rate, mu(max), and the biomass yield, Yx/s, of the yeast from the hydrolyzed waste were estimated. The ethanol yields that were achieved were similar to those of the respective small scale experiments reaching 138.67 +/- 5.69 g ethanol/kg waste (0.40 +/- 0.01 g ethanol/g consumed carbohydrates).

Automated summary

This study assessed domestic food waste with high carbohydrate content as feedstock for bioethanol production, focusing on hydrolysis efficiency and ethanol yield. Results showed high fermentation efficiency of yeast and nearly complete liquefaction of waste with a blend of cellulolytic and amylolytic enzymes, leading to high ethanol yields. Scale-up fermentation experiments yielded similar ethanol yields to small scale experiments, indicating the potential for large-scale bioethanol production.