Exploring the Bioethanol Production Potential of <i>Miscanthus</i> Cultivars

<i>Miscanthus</i> is a fast-growing perennial grass that attracts significant attention for its potential application as a feedstock for bioethanol production. This report explores the difference in the lignocellulosic composition of various <i>Miscanthus</i> cultivars, inclu...

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Autores principales: William Turner, Darren Greetham, Michal Mos, Michael Squance, Jason Kam, Chenyu Du
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/5d9c7b6faa624515929f6d5a2694db3f
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Sumario:<i>Miscanthus</i> is a fast-growing perennial grass that attracts significant attention for its potential application as a feedstock for bioethanol production. This report explores the difference in the lignocellulosic composition of various <i>Miscanthus</i> cultivars, including <i>Miscanthus × giganteus</i> cultivated at the same location (mainly Lincoln, UK). It also assesses the sugar release profiles and mineral composition profiles of five <i>Miscanthus</i> cultivars harvested over a growing period from November 2018 to February 2019. The results showed that <i>Miscanthus × giganteus</i> contains approximately 45.5% cellulose, 29.2% hemicellulose and 23.8% lignin (dry weight, <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>). Other cultivars of <i>Miscanthus</i> also contain high quantities of carbohydrates (cellulose 41.1–46.0%, hemicellulose 24.3–32.6% and lignin 21.4–24.9%). Pre-treatment of <i>Miscanthus</i> using dilute acid followed by enzymatic hydrolysis released 63.7–80.2% of the theoretical glucose content. Fermentation of a hydrolysate of <i>Miscanthus</i> × <i>giganteus</i> using <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> NCYC2592 produced 13.58 ± 1.11 g/L of ethanol from 35.13 ± 0.46 g/L of glucose, corresponding to a yield of 0.148 g/g dry weight <i>Miscanthus</i> biomass. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the morphology of raw and hydrolysed <i>Miscanthus</i> samples, which provided visual proof of <i>Miscanthus</i> lignocellulose degradation in these processes. The sugar release profile showed that a consequence of <i>Miscanthus</i> plant growth is an increase in difficulty in releasing monosaccharides from the biomass. The potassium, magnesium, sodium, sulphur and phosphorus contents in various <i>Miscanthus</i> cultivars were analysed. The results revealed that these elements were slowly lost from the plants during the latter part of the growing season, for a specific cultivar, until February 2019.