Author(s)

María Luz May-Reyes, Cintya Valerio-Cárdenas^*, Gloria Ivette Bolio-López, Manuel Mateo Hernández-Villegas, Miguel Ángel Velázquez-Carmona, Patricia De la Cruz-Burelo

Research and Postgraduate Coordination, Universidad Popular de la Chontalpa, Cárdenas, Tabasco, Mexico.

The current trend of replacing a percentage of gasoline with ethanol has promoted the development of new processes for its production from lignocellulosic biomass. This work reports the production of ethanol from the Camalote grass (Paspalum fasciculatum Willd). The lignocellulosic biomass was subjected to acid hydrolysis at 125°C and 15 psi with H₂SO₄ concentrations at 5%, 10%, and 20%, obtaining an average of reducing sugars (pentoses and hexoses) from the hydrolyzed juice with 12.3%, 10%, and 17% Brix, respectively. The sugars were fermented using yeast of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 30°C for 48 hours. Finally, the ethanol was distilled at 78°C, and the average yields were obtained through analysis of variance with a 95% confidence level. The values indicate that there is a significant difference (p > 0.05), the Tukey study shows that all the % v/v averages are different from each other. For H₂SO₄ concentration at 5% (10.33 ± 2), H₂SO₄ at 10% (9.33 ± 1.8), and H₂SO₄ at 20% (6.33 ± 2). The acidity analysis for the ethanol obtained from each treatment gave a value of 1.8 mg/L of acetic acid in all cases.

Lignocellulosic Ethanol, Lignocellulosic Biomass, Camalote Grass, Acid Hydrolysis, Energy Crops

May-Reyes, M. , Valerio-Cárdenas, C. , Bolio-López, G. , Hernández-Villegas, M. , Velázquez-Carmona, M. and Cruz-Burelo, P. (2024) Camalote Grass (Paspalum fasciculatum Willd) as a Sustainable Raw Material for the Production of Lignocellulosic Ethanol. Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, 14, 23-33. doi: 10.4236/jsbs.2024.142002.