Engineering of Bioethanol Production Bioprocess from Bladygrass Using Yeast and Zymomonas mobilis Co-culture Techniques

Engineering of Bioethanol Production Bioprocess from Bladygrass Using Yeast and Zymomonas mobilis Co-culture Techniques

Bioethanol is a fermented product from plants that contain starch or lignocellulose with the help of microorganisms. One of the making of bioethanol is reeds. Bladygrass (Imperata cylindrica Raeusch) are plants that are spread almost throughout the earth. Bladygrass are considered as weeds in agricultural lands. Bladygrass also contains lignocellulose which is quite high which has the potential to be made as bioethanol

In this study bioethanol was made by fermentation with the help of yeast co-culture and Zymomonas mobilis. The co-culture itself produces better bioethanol than using a single culture (monoculture) which usually uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae microorganisms. The use of Zymomonas mobilis also produces better results than using Saccharomyces, which is bioethanol obtained more optimally.

The purpose of this study was to obtain alternative bioprocess technology from reeds using the technique of yeast tape co-culture and Zymomonas mobilis which produced higher ethanol concentrations compared to the production process without co-culture.

Keywords: Bioethanol, reeds, Yeast tape, Zymomonas mobilis
By Noer Laely Sa’adah and Wilda Amalia Hasana
MAN 2 Kudus Central Java