Advancement of fermentable sugars from fresh elephant ear plant weed for efficient bioethanol production

Bioethanol is considered one of the most promising next-generation automotive fuels, as it is carbon neutral and can be produced from renewable resources, like lignocellulosic materials. The present research investigation aimed to utilize the elephant ear plant, a hazardous plant (weed) also considered an invasive species, as a font of non-edible lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production. The freshly collected elephant ear plant (leaves and stalk) was chopped into small pieces (1-2 cm) and then homogenized to a paste using a mechanical grinder. The sample pretreatment was done by flying ash for three different time durations (T1 = 0 min, T2 = 15 min, and T3 = 30 min) with 3 replications. All treatment samples were measured for total sugar and reducing sugar content. The concentration of reducing sugar archived was T1 = 0.771 +/- 0.1 mg/mL, T2 = 0.907 +/- 0.032 mg/mL, and T3 = 0.895 +/- 0.039 mg/mL, respectively. The results revealed that the chemical composition was different among treatments. The hydrolysis was performed using cellulase enzymes at 35 degrees C for the hydrolysis process. The hydrolysate was inoculated with 1% of S. cerevisiae and maintained at room temperature without oxygen for 120 h. Bioethanol concentration was measured by using an ebulliometer. The efficient ethanol percentage was 1.052 +/- 0.03 mg/mL achieved after the fermentation. Therefore, the elephant ear plant invasive weed could be an efficient feedstock plant for future bioethanol production.

Automated summary

The research utilized the elephant ear plant as a source of non-edible lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production. Through fly ash treatment and cellulose enzyme hydrolysis, high ethanol production efficiency was achieved.