Bioethanol from cassava: Characterization of starch during thermo-enzymatic hydrolysis

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges for the 21" century society is to meet the growing demand for energy for transportation in a sustainable way. High prices of petroleum in the market are in critical state and alternative for fuel is needed. Therefore, cassava is chosen as the raw material for ethanol production via enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. This paper discusses the fundamental characterization of starch degradation during thermo-enzymatic hydrolysis. In this project, non edible cassava is used as the raw material for starch, which undergoes enzymatic hydrolysis to produce glucose. By using various analytical equipments, its characteristic during hydrolysis was determined. It was found thai the root starches has a polyhedric shape by visualizing under SEM. The surface of this starch was slightly rough which contains pinholes and protrusions as confirmed by using AFM. Under XRD, the pattern shows that the cassava was classified as B-type starch and their gelatinization temperature was high which is 89.4°C.