Production and Characterization of Bioethanol from De-oiled Seeds Cake of Rothmannialongiflora Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

The motive of the research is production of bioethanol from deffated seeds cake of Rothmannia longiflora and analysis of its physical/chemical properties. The fermentation process was optimized for maximum ethanol yield considering four parameters; temperature, pH and yeast concentration. The statistical analysis revealed that pH and temperature are the most influential parameters affecting the ethanol yield. The maximum ethanol yield of 11.14 g/cm3 was observed at the following optimum conditions; pH of 6, temperature of 30oC and yeast concentration of 2 %. The produced ethanol was subjected to fuel properties analysis. The structural investigation of the derived bioethanol was conducted using FT-IR analysis and it confirmed the characteristics bands of ethanol at 3369.52 cm-1, 2918.5 and 2844.0 cm-1. Some fuel properties were found to be consistent with ASTM standard and to those of conventional ethanol. The study revealed the viability of Rothmannia longiflora seeds cake as promising feedstock for bioethanol production.