Effect of inhibitors on efficiency of Kluyveromyces Marxianus in high temperature fermentation for bioethanol production

Abstract

Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF), is a process that combining two steps at once. However, there is still a large difference in optimal temperature between saccharification and fermentation, thus an effective SSF will require a thermotolerant yeast strain that can work effectively at temperature more than 40°C. Kluyveromyces marxianus is one of the yeast strain that commonly used in ethanol fermentation. In this study, high temperature fermentations with different concentration of inhibitors has been carry out to observe the growth of K. marxianus ATCC 26548 and its performance to produce bioethanol under such stress. Acetic acid at concentration of 0.5 g/L and 1.0 g/L aided the ethanol production but concentration of 3.0 g/L and above had greatly inhibited the ethanol production