Publications scientifiques
2019Article de revueanglaisAccès ouvert
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Publications scientifiques
Florent Awedem Wobiwo
Autres affiliations : UCLouvain
Tanmay Chaturvedi
Mette Hedegaard Thomsen* (Auteur correspondant)
Thomas Happi Emaga
Iwona Cybulska
Patrick A. Gerin
Magali Deleu
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
Residual banana bulbs (RBB) were characterized and assessed as a potential starch and cellulose-based feedstock for bioethanol production. To facilitate the enzymatic digestibility, hydrothermal pretreatment was performed on RBB prior to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Composition of RBB was similar to traditional starch and cellulose-based feedstocks with high glucan (60 g/100 gDM) and relatively low lignin content (7 g/100 gDM). Both amylase and cellulase were needed to efficiently hydrolyze RBB. The highest ethanol yield (310 kg EtOH/ton_DM_RBB, 93% of theoretical production based on total available glucose) was obtained with non-pretreated RBB. SSF can be carried out at lower RBB concentrations. Hydrothermal pretreatment affected negatively the bioethanol potential due to the loss of fermentable carbohydrates. In a case study of an African leading producer of bananas and plantains (Cameroon), the energy derived from bioethanol was 80 GWh ethanol/year and corresponded to 1.6% of the annual transportation requirement. This study shows that RBB is a promising alternative feedstock for bioethanol production.