Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of steam exploded duckweed: Improvement of the ethanol yield by increasing yeast titre.

This study investigated the conversion of Lemna minor biomass to bioethanol. The biomass was pre-treated by steam explosion (SE, 210°C, 10 min) and then subjected to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) using Cellic® CTec 2 (20 U or 0.87 FPU g(-1) substrate) cellulase plus ß-glucosidase (2 U g(-1) substrate) and a yeast inoculum of 10% (v/v or 8.0×10(7) cells mL(-1)). At a substrate concentration of 1% (w/v) an ethanol yield of 80% (w/w, theoretical) was achieved. However at a substrate concentration of 20% (w/v), the ethanol yield was lowered to 18.8% (w/w, theoretical). Yields were considerably improved by increasing the yeast titre in the inoculum or preconditioning the yeast on steam exploded liquor. These approaches enhanced the ethanol yield up to 70% (w/w, theoretical) at a substrate concentration of 20% (w/v) by metabolising fermentation inhibitors.

Chemical characterisation and analysis of the cell wall polysaccharides of duckweed (Lemna minor).

Duckweed is potentially an ideal biofuel feedstock due to its high proportion of cellulose and starch and low lignin content. However, there is little detailed information on the composition and structure of duckweed cell walls relevant to optimising the conversion of duckweed biomass to ethanol and other biorefinery products. This study reports that, for the variety and batch evaluated, carbohydrates constitute 51.2% (w/w) of dry matter while starch accounts for 19.9%. This study, for the first time, analyses duckweed cell wall composition through a detailed sequential extraction. The cell wall is rich in cellulose and also contains 20.3% pectin comprising galacturonan, xylogalacturonan, rhamnogalacturonan; 3.5% hemicellulose comprising xyloglucan and xylan, and 0.03% phenolics. In addition, essential fatty acids (0.6%, α-linolenic and linoleic/linoelaidic acid) and p-coumaric acid (0.015%) respectively are the most abundant fatty acids and phenolics in whole duckweed.