Improvement of bioethanol production from pomegranate peels via acidic pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis

The aim of this study was to improve the ethanol production from pomegranate peels (PPs). Therefore, the effect of enzymatic hydrolysis and different pretreatments on ethanol production by yeasts was examined. There were three different enzyme concentrations (3.6, 7.2, 14.4 FPU/g substrate) tested for enzymatic hydrolysis, and four different PP media, such as WSPP (whole slurry of PP), LFPP (liquid fraction of PP), WSFPP (washed solid fraction of PP) and N-WSFPP (non-washed solid fraction of PP), were prepared. Bioethanol production was monitored for 96 h. Maximum ethanol concentrations were obtained at WSPP medium as 12.69 g/L, 14.35 g/L and 4.23 g/L in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus and Pichia stipitis, respectively. On the other hand, the washing step of biomass increased the kinetic parameters dramatically and the highest theoretical ethanol yields and Y-P/S values were obtained from WSFPP medium in all tested yeasts. Theoretical ethanol yields were 97.8%, 98.7% and 35.5% for S. cerevisiae, K. marxianus and P. stipitis, respectively. Q(p) values were observed as 0.98 g/L h, 0.99 g/L h and 0.04 g/L h for the same yeasts. The highest Y-P/S values were detected as 0.50 g/g for S. cerevisiae, 0.50 g/g for K. marxianus and 0.30 g/g for P. stipitis in the washed pomegranate peel biomass.