BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM DIFFERENT AMYLACEOUS MATERIALS

The main sources of energy currently used on the planet are from non-renewable origin, in particular fossil carbon, and it is necessary to seek new sources of renewable energy. The production of biofuels from starches is a technique that is being explored in Brazil due to the great potential in the production of cereals such as corn, wheat and sorghum, which are saccharified and transformed into fermentable sugars. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the amylaceous raw material on the hydrolysis and fermentation stages for bioethanol production. The amylaceous raw materials were submitted to enzymatic saccharification of starch, followed by alcoholic fermentation with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to obtain ethanol. The results showed that sorghum and corn liberated higher amounts of reducing sugars (RS), up to 23.23 g/L of RS and up to 24.61 g/L of RS, respectively, and the hydrolysis time in which there was greater release of sugars was of 24 h. Regarding bioethanol production, sorghum stood out, reaching up to 39.64 g/L in the time of 20 h of fermentation, while corn reached 34.61 g/L of ethanol concentration.