Bioethanol Production from Date Seed Cellulosic Fraction Using <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>
Fatma Bouaziz,
Amal Ben Abdeddayem,
Mohamed Koubaa,
Francisco J. Barba,
Khawla Ben Jeddou,
Imen Kacem,
Raoudha Ellouz Ghorbel,
Semia Ellouz Chaabouni
Affiliations
Fatma Bouaziz
Laboratory for the Improvement of Plants and Valorization of Agroresources, National School of Engineering of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Amal Ben Abdeddayem
Laboratory for the Improvement of Plants and Valorization of Agroresources, National School of Engineering of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Mohamed Koubaa
TIMR (Transformations Intégrées de la Matière Renouvelable), Centre de Recherche Royallieu, École Supérieure de Chimie Organique et Minérale, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, CS 60319, 60203 Compiègne CEDEX, France
Francisco J. Barba
Nutrition and Food Science Area, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Food Science, Toxicology and Forensic Medicine Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitat de València, Avda, Vicent Andrés Estellés, s/n, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain
Khawla Ben Jeddou
Laboratory for the Improvement of Plants and Valorization of Agroresources, National School of Engineering of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Imen Kacem
Laboratory for the Improvement of Plants and Valorization of Agroresources, National School of Engineering of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Raoudha Ellouz Ghorbel
Laboratory for the Improvement of Plants and Valorization of Agroresources, National School of Engineering of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
Semia Ellouz Chaabouni
Laboratory for the Improvement of Plants and Valorization of Agroresources, National School of Engineering of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax, Sfax 3038, Tunisia
This study investigates the feasibility of producing ethanol from date palm seeds. The chemical compositions of three varieties of date seeds were first studied, showing mainly the presence of cellulose and hemicellulose. Ethanol was produced after a pre-treatment of date seeds using acid hydrolysis to extract the cellulosic fraction and to remove the lignin. Producing ethanol by fermentation was performed using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 24 h, during which ethanol yield, biomass concentration, and total reducing sugars were recorded. The results obtained showed that the sugar content decreased over time, while ethanol production increased. Indeed, date seeds gave the highest ethanol concentration of 21.57 g/L after 6 h of alcoholic fermentation. These findings proved the feasibility of producing ethanol from date seeds.
